Famiglia
by Aradia2
Summary: Willow discovers a family secret. Set in season 3 after Lover's Walk.
1. Vanilla and Kinks

Title: Vanilla and Kinks  
  
Author: Witchy Red  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own any of them  
  
Distribution: Bloody Kisses, NHA, fanfiction.net  
  
Summary: Willow finds out the family secret (Willow/Spike)  
  
Rating: R  
  
Egypt 1230 AD:  
  
The night was chilled, showing no signs of the day's heat. Stars shined brightly in the cloudless sky. Animals snuck out of their hiding places and bathed in the moonlight. Far to the west, bright fire could just be made out against the darkness. Low chanting pierced the silence.  
  
In a small pyramid filled with the belongings and body of a forgotten pharaoh a cult of worshippers raised energy to bring out their god. They stood in a circle in the deep recesses of the temple, their hands clasped, heads thrown back. In the center of the circle was a fresh corpse. Warm blood dripped down the alter that the body was laid out on. Beneath the alter was a pool filled with the darkness of a black hole. In it something was writhing and swelling, filled with the blood of the dead man. Their chanting rose as the thing grew. It became a frantic raving of obsessed disciples. As they continued their ritual, outside storm clouds grew from nothing. They pulled the moisture right out of the desert creatures themselves. Cacti withered, lizards dried up, desert rats dehydrated. And the clouds grew.  
  
Sian raced across the desert. Her breath came in sporadic pants, her heart pounded, muscles in her legs screamed in agony. She wasn't going to make it. The ritual was almost over. He would form and balance would never be restored. Anger coursed through her blood and gave Sian strength. They had Erian. She would destroy them all for taking her watcher.  
  
Sian ran down the entrance of the pyramid toward the frenzied screaming far below. When she arrived in the chamber her sight went directly to her fallen watcher, their sacrifice. Her face became ashen with terror and despair. They already had their white lamb and the ritual was almost finished. Anger coursed through her filling the numbness that was her body with hot fire. Screaming incoherently she attacked, breaking up their power circle. She fought with all her strength, killing as many as she could, but they kept coming and they kept chanting. She couldn't stop it. The thing was becoming solid.  
  
Sian heard a rumbling coming from outside the pyramid and looked up from her fight, distracted. She received a knife puncture in her gut for her lack of concentration. Doubling over in pain, Sian grew sick. Her side felt molten, it was burning, searing, she could barely move. Another demon kneed her in her side. That was all it took for the screaming rage to return. She was once again a flurry of kicks and punches, her wound numb. She couldn't win this fight but she could take as many of them as possible. Finally after all of her energy was exhausted and she had lost too much blood to function Sian lay choking on the ground in front of the thing that was almost formed.  
  
A large demon with more eyes than he should have had in more places then they should have been walked toward her holding a large scimitar in both hands. She had destroyed the ritual to bring forth his master and for that she must pay.  
  
Sian knew she was finished, after two years she was going to die like a dog being put out of her misery, choking on the floor, unable to defend herself.  
  
Sian could feel her last breath coming. If the demon didn't hurry up with that scimitar she was going to die of the knife wound. Finally he reached her. His arm raised high above his head. Sian could see the menace in his eyes, all of them. She knew he would enjoy killing her. He would get off on it. Sian closed her eyes and waited for the last blow but it never came. She waited for what seemed like hours. Carefully Sian opened her eyes but she never got to see what had happened to her would be killer because a flash of the magickal lightening struck her in the chest. She had time to scream and her body convulsed. Within seconds she was dead.  
  
While Sian was screaming in agony the half-formed creature slowly rose out of its dark pit. The ritual had not been completed. He was not whole. Fury raced through him. She had ruined it! That stupid girl had destroyed everything and there was nothing he could do about it, except, maybe. . .The thing had an idea. He staggered over to the fallen slayer and fell on top of her. His semi-liquid body molded around her and then was absorbed into her figure. A few minutes later, amidst the dead demons, killed from the lightening, Sian sat up and smiled.  
  
Brazil 1999:  
  
The jungle was never still. In the morning it would sing with morning birds and sunrise. At night predators would stalk their pray, breathing through the underbrush, guided by the moonlight. In the deepest part of the jungle quivered a small shack built from the labors of its inhabitants. They lived a quiet life away from civilization with only the jungle creatures and themselves for company. She was a small tough brunette with mocha skin and a wide scar that ran down half of her face. He was an ethereal beauty that lived on another plain where she spent most of her time with her love. They had lived alone for so long that when a visitor came by, a slight blonde girl, that they didn't recognize her for an enemy until it was too late. She came to their home smiling sweetly and weaving a tale of a missing teenager in trouble. They of course agreed and several hours later she was being tortured at the hands of the blonde beauty as her lover watched from beyond, incapable of interceding, incapable of saving himself and the most important thing in all the worlds to him. At her final cry of release blue light burst from both of them blinding their murderer. In that blast the lovers gave their last breaths.  
  
LA 1999:  
  
The dance floor was crowded with gyrating bodies. Music beat low and dangerous. In a dark corner near the stage a couple danced moving together and then apart. Their bodies pressed up against one another. His hands rested on her exposed midriff and her arms wrapped around his neck. He bent his head and kissed her just below the pulse point in her throat. Her dark auburn hair brushed against his face and her hips thrust into his. As their rhythm increased a disturbing energy rose up around them. Blue light, invisible to those without magick, surrounded them. As the dance reached its climax the light was absorbed into the couple and it began. 


	2. Part One

Title: Vanilla and Kinks  
  
Author: Witchy Red  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own any of them  
  
Distribution: Bloody Kisses, NHA, fanfiction.net  
  
Summary: Willow finds out the family secret (Willow/Spike)  
  
Rating: R  
  
Sunnydale 1999:  
  
(Part 1) The sun shone down on the southern California high school campus. Three girls sat together under a tree. They were as different in personalities as they were in looks.  
  
One blonde and classically beautiful her confidence and youth showed in her face but her eyes held grief and a loss that was unexplainable. She knew what sorrow was. She had been there and lived there still in her dreams.  
  
The next was brunette and sexy. She attracted and repelled men simultaneously. She showed a tough and dangerous persona but inside she was vulnerable. She had seen more than anyone should ever have to see. She had been through hell and survived.  
  
The last was a red head with a quiet prettiness. She had a shy smile and sedate manner but in her eyes was a passion and fire that exceeded her friends. She was strong and dangerous. Power coursed through her veins but she let no one close enough to notice. She had been protector of her family and friends for too many years to count. She knew their problems and their desires but they know nothing of hers.  
  
These three girls sat on the grass under the tree and thought nothing of their problems. They talked and laughed like any other teenage girls. They took this time out from the real world and experienced happiness.  
  
"So anyway we get back to my apartment and he's like are you going to ask me up. I wasn't but I changed my mind. He was cute and I was horny. So what's a girl to do?" Faith said laughing. Willow and Buffy moaned in faux disgust. Willow looked up from braiding Buffy's hair and rolled her eyes at Faith.  
  
"Was he any good?" Buffy wanted to know.  
  
"Straight vanilla. I almost fell asleep in the middle." Faith answered.  
  
"What's vanilla?" Buffy asked.  
  
"Straight shit, no kinks. Probably missionary." Willow answered her without thinking. Buffy and Faith looked at her. Willow realized what she had said and blushed. "Or so I've heard." She mumbled.  
  
"Just what are you and Oz doing to each other?" Faith asked teasingly.  
  
"Oz and I aren't doing anything to each other. We broke up. It wasn't the same after the whole Xander fiasco."  
  
"I'm sorry, Will" Buffy said sympathetically.  
  
"It's okay. I should have realized something was wrong when I cheated. I wouldn't have if we were cool. I just wish I hadn't hurt him."  
  
"So, Red, if wolfboy's no longer in the picture who's teaching you all these naughty things?" Faith asked.  
  
"No one!" Willow said a little too forcefully. "I told you I just read it somewhere." Her face turned the same shade of red as Buffy's painted nails and she busied herself at picking imaginary lint off her sweater.  
  
"Willow's got a new spank buddy." Faith taunted. Buffy smiled and started poking at Willow.  
  
"So who is he? Is he cute? Is he rich? Is he a demon in your computer?" Buffy asked teasingly.  
  
"I told you it's no one!"  
  
"Then why does your face match your hair?" Buffy asked.  
  
"I'm hot. I may be coming down with something. I should go to the nurse." Willow stammered. She got up and hurried away hearing Buffy and Faith's laughter as she went.  
  
After school Buffy and Faith were in the library training. Faith held a punching bag while Buffy attacked it.  
  
"So who do you think Willow is seeing?" Faith asked. Buffy paused in her display of violence and gave Faith a look.  
  
"Willow? I have no idea. If she really is seeing someone new then he definitely isn't her usual type teaching her naughty stuff like that. Maybe he'll be good for her. She needs someone to just want Willow for Willow and to get her to have some fun." Buffy said.  
  
"Oz didn't want Willow for Willow?" Faith asked.  
  
"No, Oz hung onto Willow's humanity like it was the light to heaven. He didn't want Willow he wanted someone who didn't think he was a monster."  
  
"Maybe Willow needs a monster who has accepted the fact." Faith said.  
  
"Or maybe she needs a normal human." Buffy countered.  
  
"Maybe you two should concentrate on training and let Willow run her own life." Giles said as he walked out of the office and into the main room of the library. Buffy and Faith blushed at being caught gossiping and went back to beating the hell out of the punching bag. Well, until Buffy punched a hole through it. Then the girls worked at hand to hand.  
  
After training Buffy and Faith went out on patrol. They walked idly through St. Francis cemetery staking the occasional vampire. It was a pretty slow night and they ended up sitting in front of a fresh grave waiting for a fledgling to rise. Buffy perched on a grave and Faith hung from a low branch of a maple tree. They stared impatiently at a small grave that read, Michelle Brennan, loved and cherished forever. Michelle had yet to wake up.  
  
"There is no way that Willow needs a normal human. He couldn't deal or accept her." Faith said.  
  
"Accept what?" Buffy asked. "Somebody normal would do her good."  
  
"Somebody normal would never understand about her Wicca or about what we do and Willow wouldn't be able to keep a part of herself that's so big from somebody she loved." Faith countered.  
  
"So, what, you think she needs a monster. Maybe she should go out and get busy with the first demon she sees?" Buffy exclaimed becoming upset.  
  
"I just think she needs someone who will love and understand her." Faith said trying to calm Buffy down. She was so high strung these days.  
  
"So, do I." Buffy said. Then she turned her head. Faith waited a few minutes and then tried to start the conversation again.  
  
"So, how are we gonna find out who the new hottie is?" Faith asked after a moment.  
  
"I don't know. I don't know why she's been hiding him from us." Buffy replied still acting a little offended.  
  
"She probably just wanted something that was her own for a while. She wanted a secret.  
  
"Willow has secrets. She's Wicca girl. It doesn't get more mysterious than that." Buffy replied.  
  
"She's not mysterious. She's, watch out!" Faith called. The fledgling had risen and was barreling toward Buffy. Buffy hopped off of the gravestone and punched the vamp in the face. The vampire stumbled back into Faith who had dropped from her tree branch onto the ground. Faith pulled her stake up into the vampire's heart. She sneezed when vamp dust blew into her face.  
  
"Great, now I need a shower." Faith said as she spit dust out of her mouth. Buffy couldn't stop laughing. She clutched her stomach and fell to the ground her hysterical laughter ringing out into the night. Faith growled and tackled her. They sparred for several minutes before the snapping of a twig from behind had them both whirling, ready to attack. It was Angel. Buffy visibly relaxed and walked over to her love. Faith took an extra minute to let down her guard. She made sure Angel knew she didn't trust him and was just waiting for the time he would return to the dark.  
  
"What's up?" Buffy asked Angel.  
  
"Spike's back in town." He replied.  
  
"Spike? Isn't he that vamp that helped you last year?" Faith asked Buffy.  
  
"Yeah, he's Angel's childe. Angel, are you sure? Why would Spike be back?"  
  
"I'm sure. No one knows why he's back. They say he's alone and I can't feel Drusilla anywhere near the Hellmouth."  
  
"Why would he leave Drusilla?" Buffy asked.  
  
"Maybe she left him, again." Angel said. The slayers barely caught his sarcasm.  
  
Panting the two lovers fell back onto the mattress. One managed to pull a sheet up over their sweat soaked bodies before they fell into an exhausted sleep, the blonde vampire spooning his red head. Willow smiled into her pillow before she slept thinking of the conversation she had had with Faith and Buffy the day before. What would they do if they knew who was teaching her stuff. Buffy would freak out. Spike was their enemy. He had tried to kill them. He still might kill me if he doesn't slow down. I just do not have the stamina he does. Willow thought to herself. She couldn't prevent the small chuckle that escaped from her mouth. She was glad that Spike was already asleep. Willow pictured what Faith's reaction would be. It's okay to fuck the bad guys, she would say, as long as you don't get involved. Willow sighed. She was up to her neck in being involved. Spike and her had a relationship of sorts. It wasn't love. Willow knew that. It was more that they understood each other. Spike understood her need to be wild sometimes and how she was reveling in her newfound power. He knew that she wasn't just shy little Willow anymore. She was still shy but there was more confidence and a better self-esteem.  
  
Willow understood that he wasn't just a psychopathic killer. He could feel and care. He just chose not to care about most. It wouldn't do for him to begin to think about his meals as actual people. As far as Willow knew she was the first human that he had ever had a relationship with.  
  
But her friends would never understand. All they would see was a vampire that had tried to murder them on numerous occasions. Willow sighed again and closed her eyes. Sleep soon drove away her worries.  
  
The next night found the Scooby gang in the library researching. Willow rushed in a few minutes late. Buffy looked over at her gravely.  
  
"What's wrong, Buff?" Willow asked.  
  
"Spike's back in town. Luckily he decided he didn't need to bring Dru, so it's only him." Buffy replied. Willow felt her stomach drop. A rush of panic filled her but she kept her face as calm as possible.  
  
"Are you sure?" She asked. Buffy nodded the affirmative.  
  
"Don't worry, Will. He's not going to get anywhere near you." Xander said bravely. Misinterpreting her reaction.  
  
"I'm not worried. When did he get into town?"  
  
"About a week ago. Seems he's kept a low profile. Spike isn't stupid." Buffy told her.  
  
"Maybe he's just passing through." Willow said hopefully.  
  
"I don't think so. Something's up. I'm going to find out what." Willow nodded her head and sunk down onto a chair. Her mind was racing. This was so not good.  
  
After the meeting Willow rushed to the old abandoned house that Spike was staying in. It had been empty for as long as Willow could remember. It was a reputed haunted house and as children Willow, Xander and Jesse used to dare each other to go into it at night as Willow was sure kids still did, although not recently. It wouldn't be good for children to be sneaking in to where a master vampire was staying so Willow had cast a spell to repel them.  
  
Willow hurried up the walk and to the front door. Spike opened it before she could and stood in front of her looking scrumptiously sleepy. When he saw her he opened his arms and she walked into them.  
  
"What's wrong?" He asked quietly. He pressed his face to her hair and breathed in her scent. It was a familiar scent of vanilla and something uniquely Willow.  
  
"Buffy, Angel, everybody, they know you're here. They're going to come looking for you. You can't stay. They'll find you." Willow muttered into his t-shirt clad chest. Spike stiffened. Then he forced himself to relax. No way was his sire and his sire's bitch going to take him away from Willow. Earlier that night Spike realized that he was falling in love with the red headed witch and nobody was going to make him leave her.  
  
"I'm not going anywhere. Don't worry. It'll be fine. If we can't make them understand I'll just kill them." Spike said. Willow gasped and took a step away from him.  
  
"You cannot kill my friends Spike. Killing your lover's friends is what you call a mistake." She said in a chastising voice. Spike smiled down and answered her lightly.  
  
"Don't worry, Pet. I was joking. I won't kill your friends," Unless they bitch too much about us. Then they're meat. Spike thought darkly to himself. "Now why don't you come inside and we can put that marvelous brain of yours to better things then the Scooby Gang. We'll worry about them tomorrow." Willow didn't look very convinced but she allowed herself to be pulled inside and she did find something else to concentrate on, or someone else 


	3. Part Two

Title: Vanilla and Kinks  
  
Author: Witchy Red  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own any of them  
  
Distribution: Bloody Kisses, NHA, fanfiction.net  
  
Summary: Willow finds out the family secret (Willow/Spike)  
  
Rating: R  
  
Later that night Willow, dressed in sweats, climbed up her attic stairs. She was out of white candles. She was hoping there were still some up here, leftover from Hanukah. She searched through the holiday stuff but couldn't find any. Willow began to look through the boxes nearby. Halfway around the attic Willow came across an old chest. It was small, only about one foot across and six inches deep. The box was cedar and very plain except for an intricate design on the lid. It was a woven pentagram. Willow was shocked to see something with a pentagram on it in her house that didn't belong to her. Her parents were strict Jews. Willow tried to open the chest but it wouldn't open. It was stuck or something. She pulled at it but nothing happened. She turned it over looking for a hidden latch or something. That was when she saw the inscription. It was in a language she had never seen before but the characters were familiar. They were Greek. It was just the words that she was unfamiliar with. Willow started to sound it out.  
  
"Allah M-mdrah Saltise Am-Amerou" The lid popped open. Willow's smile was a very relieved one. It was just an unlocking spell. Willow turned the chest back over and peered inside. There was a necklace laying in it on a bed of velvet. It was an antique silver chain and hanging from it was a teardrop stone that Willow couldn't recognize. Willow unlatched the necklace and slid it from its bindings. She couldn't help herself. The beauty of the necklace pulled at her. She slipped the necklace on and fumbled for a minute with the clasp. When it was on, Willow looked down and noticed a scrap of paper peaking out from beneath the velvet. She pulled the velvet out of the box and placed it next to her. Inside the box was a folded slip of paper. Willow gingerly picked up the antique paper and unfolded it. It was a letter. Written to her. Willow sat back in shock. The paper must have been at least one hundred years old. How could it be written to her? Willow began to read the letter.  
  
To my precious Willow,  
  
If you are reading this now then the Blessed Goddess has deemed you are now old enough to except your destiny. I don't mean to sound melodramatic but you have a long battle ahead of you. I have foreseen that you will do wonderful things with your life. It is now time to tackle the hardest task you have ever had to do. I have looked and seen that you are friends with the chosen one. You are also now her link to the Powers That Be. But that is not all. You are the protector of all that is Magick. You have in part already taken on this role but now you will receive help and guidance. You may choose one to fight with you. This one will not be chosen with your head but with your heart. This one must be dark to counter your light. He/She must also be your match, heart and soul. The Hunter and the Huntress. Together you will be unstoppable.  
  
There are fierce battles ahead. The Whisper will be released and all Magick will be consumed. Be ready.  
  
May the Goddess keep you safe  
  
Emma Whearden  
  
May 16 1786  
  
Willow carefully placed everything back in the box and closed the lid. She heard the suction as the box was locked magickally once again. The spell hadn't been used up. That was interesting to know. She would have to analyze it later. Willow carried the box down the attic stairs and into her room. She placed it on the bed and turned on her laptop. A low ding announced that she had email but she ignored it and typed in one of her favorite demon search engine's web address. The site popped up and she typed in Huntress. There were 600 sites that came up. It was too broad of a category. Willow pictured the letter in her mind and instantly she thought of a name, Emma Whearden. Willow typed it in and two websites came up. Willow clicked on the first one, Famous Wiccans of Centuries Past. A biography loaded onto the page about Emma Whearden. Willow scanned it quickly. Emma Whearden was a Wiccan soothsayer who lived in England during the burning times. She was said to have had tremendous precognetic powers and people would come from all over the world just to ask her about the future. She was captured and tried as a witch in April of 1786. During the trial she wrote every day in a small journal. She was burned in June of 1786. Her Journal was found a few years later and given to her only daughter, Mary. Mary never revealed what it said to the pagan community or to the general public but it was rumored that the journal was a recount of the horrible dreams that Emma had while in prison, dreams of Hell on Earth, Magick engulfing the world. They also said that in the dreams was a young girl, a fighter, and that she would restore balance.  
  
When Willow finished reading she leaned back and gave herself time to digest what she had just read. It hadn't told her a whole lot about what the letter had meant but it gave her some insight to the person who wrote it. Willow spent the next three hours searching the web for more information. She fell asleep in front of her computer and didn't wake up until her alarm went off the next morning.  
  
Willow hurried into school just as the first bell rang. She was late. She had never been late before. Willow quickly ran to her first period class and quietly snuck in. Mr. Pyzon barely glanced at her as he droned on about the Spanish American War. As Willow took her seat, Buffy, in the seat in front of her, turned around and gave her a concerned look. Willow shook her head and mouthed the words later. Buffy didn't look satisfied but she turned back around and started to take notes in her notebook.  
  
After class Willow wouldn't say anything to Buffy until they reached the library where they found Giles and Wesley. Willow called them over to a table in the middle of the room and pulled out the small chest from her backpack. She placed it on the table and whispered the words to unlock it. Wesley gasped in amazement when the box popped open.  
  
"I found this in my attic last night. I opened it and inside was a necklace and this letter." Willow said. She lifted the letter out from under the velvet inside the box and then lifted the necklace off of her neck. Giles picked up the letter. His eyes rushed across the paper. Buffy read it over his shoulder and her mouth dropped. It was a prophecy of some kind and it was about Willow.  
  
While they poured over the letter Wesley picked up the necklace. He studied the drop of stone hanging from the chain.  
  
"Dragon's Heart." Wesley whispered. His eyes widened in wonder and surprise. Everyone turned to look at him. He looked up and explained. "The stone, it's called a Dragon's Heart. They're very rare and have many magickal properties, including being able to store a person's soul or a witch's magick."  
  
"I've heard of those. I thought they were purely myth." Giles said.  
  
"So did I. But it seems that we were mistaken." Wesley whispered. He turned it in his hand and a whirlwind appeared inside the stone. "It has been activated." He said. Buffy, Willow, and Giles turned to look at him.  
  
"What do you mean by activated?" Willow asked.  
  
"There is magick inside, powerful magick."  
  
"Do you think it could be Emma Whearden's?" Willow asked.  
  
"Possibly. I just don't know Willow." Wesley told her.  
  
"Perhaps we should have a research session tonight." Giles said.  
  
"Gee, you think?" Willow said sarcastically. Then she smiled to soften her sharp words. She was frustrated and taking it out on Giles.  
  
When Willow left Giles and Wesley got to work researching. They scoured through books all afternoon but could not find a reference to a Whisper or to Emma Whearden. Giles finally got out the watcher's diaries hoping something would be in them. They studied until the first of the Scoobies showed up, Xander with snacks.  
  
One by one the gang gathered into the library all wondering what was going on. Willow was the last to arrive except Buffy, who was on patrol. Willow rushed in her hand on her necklace and her backpack flying behind her. She muttered an apology to Giles and sat down at a table.  
  
"So what's the what, G-man? How come we're here?" Xander asked after a few moments of silence. He was becoming quite impatient.  
  
"What? Oh, um I believe that Willow should explain." Giles said somewhat distractedly. He was paging through a book looking for a reference to The Hunter. Willow's head flew up and a slight panic flooded her eyes. She didn't want to lay her problems out for everybody to see. She knew that they all needed to find out what was going on but she thought Giles was going to tell everyone. Willow could see that he was too distracted to explain anything to anybody. So she cleared her throat and began to tell the slayerettes what had happened. When she was finished Xander reached over and grabbed a book his face showing no emotion except resignation.  
  
"I guess that means we research." He said. Then proceeded to stuff a Hoho in his mouth and bury his nose in the book at the same time. Willow looked at him in amazement. This didn't at all faze him. She was practically freaking out. Something was going to happen to her and she didn't know what. How could he just take it in stride? She hated when something unexpected happened.  
  
Faith noticed that Willow was a little high-strung about this whole Huntress thing.  
  
"Wills, don't worry. We'll figure it out." She told the nervous redhead.  
  
"How can I not worry? Something's going to happen to me and I can stop it. I don't even know what it is."  
  
"I don't think it's anything bad. Maybe you just get to be superhuman like B and I. That would be cool. We could go kick ass together."  
  
"Willow, think about it. We'll finally have a girl with brawn and brains out there. Unlike the chosen two." Cordelia said to her.  
  
"Oh, yeah, Miss I'm-a-cheerleader, ever hear of the pot calling the kettle?" Faith sniped back.  
  
"What?" Cordelia asked her, confused. Then, disgusted, she dismissed her with a wave of a hand and turned back to Willow.  
  
"If you suddenly become supergirl you'll have some major things going for you, brains, magick, and strength. It'll be a total asset. I won't ever have to patrol again." Cordelia continued.  
  
"Cause you patrol so much now." Faith said, sarcasm evident in her voice. "Are you sure you even know what patrolling is?" Cordelia ignored her and began to research. Faith turned back to Willow.  
  
"Don't worry so much, Willow. Everything's going to work out. It always does. The apocalypse has been stopped plenty of times. In case you haven't noticed we aren't all dead or demon slaves."  
  
"I wish I had your confidence." Willow said. She shook her head when she saw Faith open her mouth to respond and wandered off into the stacks in search of a book.  
  
"Apocalypse, apocalypse, how can we have so many books on the apocalypse?" Willow muttered to herself.  
  
"Because it's such a popular theme, Luv." A voice said from behind her. Willow gasped and whirled around a stake already in her hand. She barely stopped herself from staking the blond man standing behind her.  
  
"What are you doing here?" Willow hissed. "Faith's down there and if she sees you you're dust."  
  
"Red, I've killed two slayers. Not really shaking in my boots here." Spike answered with a smirk.  
  
"Two! Faith's killed hundreds of vampires. Not liking your odds. Especially when you add in Xander and Giles. And if you keep pissing me off, me!"  
  
"Okay, okay. I just wanted to see if you're coming over tonight." Spike said in a placating voice. He stepped toward her and brushed a hand down her arm. When it slid over her belly Willow sucked in sharply. When it traveled around to grip her ass and pull her tightly against him she let the air in her lungs out in one sharp breath and almost passed out. He held her so close. His hard shaft was pressed against her thigh, his chest brushing her breasts and his mouth just a breath away. He bent his head forward and brushed her lips lightly with his, once, twice. Then he captured them in a soul-searing kiss. His lips slanted over hers, his tongue forced entrance past her lips. She clung helplessly to his shoulders feeling herself become lost in him. When his hands traveled lower onto her ass and brushed between her legs, Willow groaned. Then Spike pulled back and stilled his hands. Willow whimpered and pushed against him.  
  
"Are you coming over tonight, Luv?" He asked. He slowly began to stroke one finger between her legs. He could feel her swollen nether lips through her drenched khaki's.  
  
Willow shivered. She couldn't think straight. What did he just say? Did he say anything? Why had he stopped kissing her? Her head was dizzy and her eyes were blurry. She knew he had said something. She had to snap out of this. What was he doing to her? Willow shook her head and stared up at him.  
  
"I'm sorry what?" She asked. Spike smirked but had the intelligence not to laugh.  
  
"I asked if you were coming over tonight." Spike repeated.  
  
"I can't. We have to research. Apocalypse and some other stuff about me that I really need to tell you. But I can't now. Can you come over my house early in the morning, before sunrise? You can stay in my basement for the day if you're there after dawn."  
  
"I'll come." Spike said. Normally he would have pressed the issue of her coming over to his house but he could see something serious was bothering her.  
  
"Are you okay?" Spike asked Willow. He wrapped his arms around her waist and stared down at her worried expression. Willow smiled at him sadly and hung her head.  
  
"I just feel like no matter what we do it never changes and we get screwed in the end. I feel like I'm becoming, not immune, but disillusioned maybe? Like nothing can surprise me because I'm expecting the worst. I feel like a cop with too many years on the job. Only, I've seen more death than a cop and I'm barely eighteen." Willow said then she sighed. "I gotta get back and you should get going. They're gonna start wondering where I am. Next thing we know they'll have a search party up and ready to come find lost Willow in the stacks." Willow laughed bitterly at her own joke and stepped out of Spike's arms. She tilted her head and he leaned down to deliver one last chaste kiss before turning and disappearing out into the dark. Willow slowly walked down the stairs. Her head still spinning. He was the only person that had ever affected her like that. With Oz it was comfortable and safe, with Xander it had been childish and giddy but with Spike it was passionate, exciting and a little dangerous. Well, more than a little dangerous. He was what Willow had been dreaming about her entire life and she had fallen head over heels in love with him. Oh, Goddess. 


	4. Part Three

Title: Vanilla and Kinks  
  
Author: Witchy Red  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own any of them  
  
Distribution: Bloody Kisses, NHA, fanfiction.net  
  
Summary: Willow finds out the family secret (Willow/Spike)  
  
Rating: R  
  
Hours later, in the Sunnydale high school library, Willow closed the book she was reading and dropped her head onto the cover. She was exhausted and they hadn't found anything. Willow looked up at her friends. Xander was stuffing Twinkies down his throat and getting crumbs all through the pages of the book he was looking through. Faith was listening to music on her headphones, bopping her head to the beat and flipping through pages so fast Willow was sure she had given up on research a while ago. Both of the watchers were still holed up in Giles' office going through the forbidden watcher's diaries. Willow didn't have the heart to tell them that she had stolen and read all of them ages ago and knew there was nothing in them. Lastly Cordelia was, surprisingly, the only one still avidly researching. She was searching a website that Willow had logged her onto. Her hair was pulled up high and her face was set in a frown. Willow could tell she wasn't having any luck either.  
  
"Ok guys. Enough. We aren't going to find anything tonight. Let's try again tomorrow." Willow announced to the room.  
  
"Are you sure, Wills? We can be here all night enjoying the research fun." Xander asked her.  
  
"Yeah, Willow, it's not like most of us have lives. Ah-hem, Xander." Cordelia said from her place at the computer. Xander threw her a "hey" look but kept his mouth shut for once.  
  
"No, that's okay. We can do this tomorrow night." Willow said. Then she waved her hands in front of the slayer sitting next to her trying to get her attention. Faith finally looked up and shouted loudly.  
  
"What?"  
  
Willow made gestures with her hands telling Faith to take the headphones off. When she did Willow answered her.  
  
"We're done for tonight. Let's go."  
  
"Ice! I'll walk you home." Faith said. She jumped off the table and walked out of the library. Willow looked at Cordelia and Xander. Do either of you need an escort?"  
  
"No, I have my car. I can give Xander a lift." Cordelia said.  
  
"Yeah, Wills. Go ahead and catch up with Faith. I'll tell Giles and Wesley we're outty." Xander told her.  
  
"Okay, see you guys tomorrow." Willow said and hurried to catch up with Faith.  
  
Willow walked home quietly listening to Faith ramble on about some vampire she had dusted earlier that evening. She was pretty much tuning her out. Willow had much more important things to talk about.  
  
"Faith," She interrupted suddenly.  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"Remember the other day on the lawn when you were telling Buffy and I about your date?"  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"Well, hypothetically, what if there was someone new but. . . he wasn't really my type? What if you guys didn't approve? Would you trust my judgment enough to leave things be?"  
  
"Willow, I'd trust you with anything. You're probably the most reliable out of all of us."  
  
"What if he was kind of not on our side?"  
  
"You mean what if he was evil? Well, would he hurt you?"  
  
"No, not ever! I mean hypothetically."  
  
"Of course hypothetically. Would he hurt any of us?"  
  
"Not if I asked him not to."  
  
"Then go with your gut and the rest of us will just have to deal with it." Willow smiled at the slayer's blunt answer. She could always depend on the truth with Faith. Whether she wanted it or not.  
  
"Thanks." Willow replied. They reached her house and Willow turned around. "And thank you for walking me home."  
  
"Sure, no problem. Want me to come in for a while?" Faith asked. Normally Willow would have jumped at the chance to spend more time with the brunette but tonight she wanted company of a different sort and he would be there any minute.  
  
"No, I'm really tired. I'm just gonna go to bed." Willow said and found she didn't have to fake a yawn. She was tired.  
  
"So, would this hypothetical guy be a good lay?" Faith asked mischievously before she turned to leave. Willow blushed bright red. Faith loved it that she could still do that.  
  
Willow walked through each room of her house turning on lights or lighting candles. She was weirded out by everything that was happening to her and the light was comforting. In her bedroom she slipped into a silk nightshirt and robe that her parents had brought back for her the last time they had gone to China. It was the last time they had remembered that she might enjoy a gift from their travels. Now they barely remembered to call and tell her when they were leaving one country and heading to the next.  
  
Willow climbed back down the stairs and seated herself in her dad's study. She sat in front of the fireplace lighting it with a thought. Her magick had grown so much in the past year and she felt so powerful since she put on Emma Whearden's necklace. It filled her with a newfound reserve and strength.  
  
Willow sat in front of the burning fire for what seemed like hours just thinking. Thinking about her parents, her friends, Spike, and of course the coming apocalypse or whatever that she had found in her attic. She sat there until a knock at the front door broke the spell of the warm fire and disquieting thoughts. Willow stood slowly and stretched before making her way to the door. She knew who it was and knew he could take care of himself out in the dark for a few minutes while she oriented herself. Finally after the third knock she reached and opened the door.  
  
"I was coming." She said teasingly as she smiled up into ice blue eyes. Spike smiled slightly. His annoyance leaked out of him. She always did that. He could never stay mad at her.  
  
"I'm impatient, Luv. What can I say?" Spike replied but Willow wasn't paying any attention to him. Her eyes were focused on something behind him. Spike turned to see what was so interesting on a deserted street at 3 o'clock in the morning. A gang of vampires advancing on them was what was so interesting. Spike growled. He was not in the mood to play nice with the newly arrogant. He could see they wanted a quick meal and couldn't tell he was a vampire. Well, couldn't tell until he slipped into his game face. They immediately began to apologize and back up. This girl was already dead and served with a side of lemon. They apologized until one of them recognized the vampire and that the girl seemed to not be afraid of him.  
  
"Spike playing house with a human? I never thought I'd see the day." The vampire spoke up. Spike picked him easily out of the crowd. He had long greasy hair and a big mouth.  
  
"You still haven't but I could help you with that if you still want to." Willow piped in sarcastically before Spike could say anything. The vampire laughed.  
  
"Sugar, the only thing you're gonna help me with is a meal. I bet you'd taste sweet, like honey." The vampire just didn't know when to shut up. Spike roared and leapt at the vamp. Always ready for a fight the greasy haired punk already had his guard up. They fought for several minutes before Spike tore his head off, literally, and the guy turned to dust. The rest of the vampires jumped into the fray. Willow looked on from the porch a slight smirk on her face. Enough she thought. She was tired and wanted to go to bed. Then she knew what to do. She knew how to kill all the vampires without killing Spike. She knew how to do it with out lifting a finger. Without raising her voice Willow called out a single word into the air her necklace swirled with colored fog and a blinding light blasted out from it to surround Willow. Then all of the vampires exploded. Spike stared in front of him. Confusion etched his face and he looked at her.  
  
"What just happened?" He asked her.  
  
"I have no idea."  
  
"You have some idea. That, whatever that was, has something to do with what you wanted to tell me right?"  
  
"It might. I don't know. Come inside and I'll tell you everything I know." Willow told him. Spike sighed and shook his head. He hated mysteries. But still, he followed the love of his unlife back into her home. Hopefully she would clear this up fast. He was seriously horny. 


	5. Part Four

Title: Vanilla and Kinks  
  
Author: Witchy Red  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own any of them  
  
Distribution: Bloody Kisses, NHA, fanfiction.net  
  
Summary: Willow finds out the family secret (Willow/Spike)  
  
Rating: R  
  
The next day Willow ran into the library shouting for Giles. She dumped her bag on a chair and ran to his office but he wasn't in. She ran up into the stacks but he wasn't there either. Finally she took a deep breath and yelled Giles.  
  
"There's no need to shout." Giles said walking into the library from out in the hall. He had been running late and had just gotten to the school. "I'm not as old as you all seem to think. I do still have my hearing." Willow blushed.  
  
"Sorry," She squeaked. "I just have something amazing to tell you." But before she could continue Buffy and Cordelia walked in. Then behind them came Xander and Faith.  
  
"Hey, Red, what's the what?" Faith asked.  
  
"Well, I was just about to tell Giles. . ."  
  
"Are there any donuts, G-man?" Xander interrupted her.  
  
"I told you not to call be that and no there aren't." Giles said. "Now, Willow was trying to tell me something if the rest of you would stop yapping."  
  
"I don't yap." Cordelia said haughtily. Buffy disagreed with her but kept silent. She wanted to know what Willow was trying to tell them. Impatiently, Willow waited for them to finish. She blew hair out of her face and sighed. Finally the shut up.  
  
"As I was saying, I have something amazing to tell you." She said and then she told them what had happened, with a lot of interruptions of course.  
  
"Why was Spike fighting other vampires?" Buffy asked.  
  
"They insulted him or something, I don't know that's not important." Willow said before continuing.  
  
"So Spike's dust?" Xander asked hopefully a little later.  
  
"No, somehow I knew how to not kill him but still dust the others." She answered him.  
  
"And why would you not want to kill Spike?" Wesley, who had come in, in the middle of the story, asked. Willow didn't really have an answer for that, at least not one that she was willing to give.  
  
"Well, um, you see the thing is. . ." Willow trailed off at a loss of words. Faith smiled smugly. She knew. She had figured it out almost instantly after listening to Willow last night. She wanted to see how long it took everybody else to figure it out. Cordelia got it almost instantly.  
  
"Well, at least he's hot." She said to Willow smiling slightly. Willow blushed. Then Buffy got it.  
  
"Oh, my god!" She exclaimed. "Willow!!!"  
  
"What, what?" Xander asked, being a guy he was still in the dark.  
  
"Look, Buffy. . ."Willow said before trailing off. The tension of the moment flew right over Giles's head as he continued to ponder Willow's newfound ability.  
  
"This must be part of it." He said having an epiphany. Everybody's attention turns from Willow to Giles.  
  
"Must be part of what?" Cordy asked.  
  
"The prophecy." Giles answered her absently.  
  
"Prophecy?" Willow asked. When Giles ignored her she asked again. "Prophecy?" And then a third time. "Giles. . ." he looked up at her finally. "Prophecy!" She shouted.  
  
"Oh yes, I found a prophecy that I believe refers to what your ancestor Emma Whearden saw in her visions." Giles told her. Then he rifled through some papers and pulled out a sheet of white paper. "A colleague faxed this to me last night. She thinks it might be of some importance and I happen to agree with her." Giles read to the gang from the paper.  
  
She who is not quite one will become two  
  
The weeping one will rise up  
  
Fast and strong  
  
Wise and powerful  
  
She will unite with the other  
  
The Huntress and her Hunter  
  
Light and Dark  
  
Good and Evil  
  
Balance and Magick  
  
Once again restored"  
  
"It has the references to The Huntress and Hunter and to Magick. It also talks about a weeping one. That could be Willow referring to a Weeping Willow." Wesley noted.  
  
"What's with the becoming two? What is that?" Xander asked.  
  
"Who's the Hunter?" Faith asked. Everybody had forgotten about Willow and Spike and was focusing on the prophecy. Everybody that is except Buffy. She would not be deterred.  
  
"Willow, how could you? With him? He's evil? He'll kill us first chance he gets." She said.  
  
"No he won't. He doesn't want to kill any of us. Well, he wants to kill you, Buffy, but he said he wouldn't fight with you or Angel. He promised." Willow told her.  
  
"And you believed him?" Buffy asked her incredulously. "He doesn't have to tell the truth you know."  
  
"I know he didn't have to but he did. I trust him on that." Willow told her quietly. Buffy threw up her hands, frustrated.  
  
"Hey B, don't be a hypocrite." Faith called out. Buffy blushed brighter than Willow ever had and Willow raised a knowing eyebrow. Buffy had known that confiding in the two girls about Angelus would come back to haunt her. She swiftly changed the subject back to the prophecy. They discussed it until the bell rang. Then Xander, Cordelia, Willow, and Buffy headed toward their respective homerooms. Faith watched them leave and then idly picked up a sword leaning against the checkout counter.  
  
"Giles, up for some training?" She asked.  
  
After school Willow raced to Spike's. She didn't bother with knocking and rushed in. Willow walked quietly through the living room with it's covered furniture and faded wallpaper. She bypassed the dining room and walked into the kitchen. Spike had struck a deal with a demon he knew and now got electricity, running water and cable. Too bad he didn't get heat. She thought shivering a little. Spike also kept the fridge well stocked for Willow. She pulled it open and found a yogurt for her afternoon snack. Idly she walked back through the hall to the stairs and started up. Upstairs there were three bedrooms and a bathroom. Spike was using the one farthest down the hall. Willow headed toward it. When she stepped into his room she noted that one of the heavy black curtains wasn't pulled completely shut. Smiling slightly Willow crossed the dark blue carpeting and pulled it shut. Spike could be so absent minded about stuff like that. Sighing she set her yogurt down on an old scratched dresser and kneeled by the huge king size bed that Spike had moved in to the house a week after they started sleeping together. He claimed her full size bed was not big enough for them to screw in. His words not hers. He was such a romantic. She kneeled down and set her head in her hands next to his pillow. She loved watching him sleep. He didn't actually sleep. They called it that but it was more like he died. Like whatever magick that kept his body alive at night disappeared as soon as he went to sleep. He was stiff and cold like a corpse. He didn't move or take any unnecessary breaths. The first time Willow had woken up in his arms she had been very freaked out about it but now it seemed normal. One of his quirks that she adored. Willow berated herself slightly. No mushy thoughts. I have too keep focused. Scooby Gang meeting tonight. How am I going to get Spike there? First I have to wake him up. That was the easy part. Willow sat on the bed and straddled the sleeping vampire rubbing her jean-covered core over his crotch. Then she leaned over and bit into his neck, hard. Spike woke up with a moan and flipped their positions without a thought. He pushed his lower half into her and Willow grinned at the feel of his hard length pushing on his zipper. His lips captured hers in a bruising kiss forcing entrance into the moist recesses of her mouth.  
  
Willow sighed into the blonde's mouth and ran her hands down his hard chest. He was sucking on her tongue now. She loved when he did that. It made her instantly wet. Willow moaned. Then she pushed her upper body up off of him, which didn't help because it lodged her scorching center against his erection. Willow bit her lip to keep from groaning again.  
  
"Spike, we need to talk." She said in a hoarse whisper.  
  
"Talk later, much later." Spike mumbled in between nibbling on her neck.  
  
"No, now. This is important." Willow insisted. Willow rolled off of Spike and onto the bed beside him. Spike layed next to her breathing heavily. She made him weak with love and lust and he wanted her now.  
  
"What is so important, Red?" He asked impatiently.  
  
"They know." She answered.  
  
"How'd they take it?"  
  
"Faith surprisingly is okay with it. Cordelia thinks it's okay because you're hot. Buffy freaked until Faith told her not be a hypocrite. And. . ."  
  
"A hypocrite?" Spike asked interrupting Willow.  
  
"Yeah, cause she slept with Angelus. Didn't you know?" Spike shook his head negatively. "Well, she did. Then she was like all broken up about it or whatever. Anyway as I was saying, Giles was too busy with this prophecy thing to even realize what we were talking about and Xander was just lost. Sometimes I worry about him."  
  
"Sounds eventful. So, Angel doesn't know?" Spike asked carefully.  
  
"He probably does now. I'm sure Buffy went and told him as soon as school was out, possibly before. I don't remember if she was in history or not."  
  
"That'll be fun. I promise you he won't be as easy to get around as the slayer."  
  
"I'm not worried. I'll just threaten to remove his curse." Willow said evilly.  
  
"Can you do that?" He asked  
  
"Sure, easy. You think I would have attempted to perform that curse without knowing it inside and out?"  
  
"Because all of your spells are just perfect." Spike said sarcastically. Willow hit him playfully across his stomach.  
  
"Keep that up and I'm gonna give you a soul. I know I can make that one work." Spike shuddered at the thought and quickly changed the subject.  
  
"So, what about this prophesy? What is that?"  
  
"I brought a copy to show you. I think part of it is about you." Willow said as she rummaged through her backpack sitting next to the bed. She pulled out a manila folder labeled Emma Whearden and opened it. Inside was a copy of the prophecy that Giles had found. Silently she handed it to Spike and watched his face as he read it.  
  
Spike read the prophecy through twice. Then he sat back against his pillows and thought. Willow was smart and he completely agreed with her. It was about both of them. He wasn't to keen on the idea of having someone write out his life. The idea of fate or destiny had never sat to well with him. He preferred to think he made his own choices and lived his own life.  
  
"Do you know what it means?" He asked quietly after a few minutes.  
  
"Not really. Giles is working on it. But it's blatantly about me and I think the Hunter is you."  
  
"So do I. I don't know if I like this, Will." He said. When he used her name, even a shortened version of it, Willow knew he was serious.  
  
"Neither do I. I don't want to be some Huntress of whatever. Don't I fight enough? And nobody cares. They are so calm about this like it's no big deal. This is my life that's changing and they act like it's just another day on the Hellmouth." Willow said her voice growing louder and more frantic as she continued. Spike watched her quietly and then gently layed a hand over hers. Willow calmed down enough to think rationally.  
  
"Spike, if I suggest something you really don't want to do will you bite me?" She asked.  
  
"I'll bite you anyway, Red, just tell me." Spike said with a smirk.  
  
"I think you need to work with the rest of the Scooby Gang on this. I can't do it alone. I need your help and I need theirs." Spike sighed. He had a feeling that was what she was going to say and he hated to admit it but she was right. He had to work with the good guys, again. Only this time it would be worse, there were two slayers and his pouf of a sire. Spike moaned. Then he sighed again.  
  
"I will, Luv. For you. But don't expect me to be nice." Spike consented.  
  
"Never." Willow said. She smiled and looked him over. "So, how bad did I kill the mood?" She asked mischievously. Spike grinned and pulled her on top of him once again.  
  
"The only way you can kill the mood, Luv, is if you leave." He whispered into her ear. Willow almost melted at his words. She leaned over and kissed him slowly, sensuously. Goddess how she loved him.  
  
A few hours later as the sun was settling in for the night Willow woke to the sound of her bag ringing or rather the phone in it. Blindly she felt for it on the floor next to the bed. Who was calling her? She thought. Hopefully it was someone she could yell at for waking her up.  
  
"Hello." Willow mumbled after she had tracked down the phone.  
  
"Willow, where the hell are you? Are you okay? We expected you over an hour ago." Buffy's voice ranted from inside the phone.  
  
"Buffy?" Willow could barely understand her. She sounded so far away. Then Willow opened her eyes and realized that a blanket was between her and the cell phone she was holding. Quickly she struggled to extract herself from the demon blankets that had attacked her during the night. Willow laughed softly at her thoughts. Hey, it was the Hellmouth, anything could happen. Finally she was free and put the phone back to her ear. Buffy was still raging. Willow interrupted her.  
  
"Buffy, I overslept. We'll be there soon."  
  
"Who's we? And where are you?" Buffy asked confused. "I called your house. Where have you been all afternoon.?"  
  
"We is Spike." Willow said quietly. She rushed on before Buffy could interrupt. "I talked to Giles and he agreed that not only was the prophecy about me but it was also about Spike and that Spike should work with us. Please don't over react. He's not going to hurt me and this is my life." Willow pleaded. Buffy was quiet and Willow waited anxiously for a reaction. The minutes passed in silence. Willow was so tense that she almost fell off the bed when Spike sat up and slipped an arm around her waist. When she had recovered she layed her head on his shoulder and prayed that Buffy would speak.  
  
"I don't like this. He's evil. He'll always be evil but I respect your choices and your ability to make them so I won't cause a problem. Just don't expect me to be nice." Buffy said finally. Willow's eyes welled up with tears.  
  
"Thank you, Buffy. It'll be alright. You'll see. I love you." Willow said through her tears.  
  
"I love you to, Willow. That won't ever change. Best friends forever right? And because we're such good friends I'll handle Angel."  
  
Willow walked into the library with her hand clasped in Spike's. When the door slammed shut the room grew quiet and everyone stared at them. Willow glanced around nervously and took a step back. Her body pressed tightly against Spike's and he gave her strength. Surprisingly though no one looked at her with anything except acceptance. Spike on the other hand received mixed responses. Faith and Cordelia looked him over like he was a piece of meat. Both of them reached the same conclusion simultaneously, total hottie. Buffy stared at him with barely suppressed hatred and violence. Angel stared with weary suspicion and something that seemed to Willow like regret. Xander looked scared but Willow was his best friend and he trusted her. The blonde vampire, on the other hand, he trusted just about as far as he could throw him. Oz was probably the most understanding. Wesley looked so terrified Willow thought he was going to faint. He could barely be in the same room with Angel, Spike was almost sending him into convulsions. The room was filled with a hot tense aura that Willow couldn't figure out how to break through. She felt as if she were suffocating. Then Giles, bless his heart, dashed the hostility away with a soft smile and a gesture for them to sit. Willow smiled at him and pulled Spike over to a set of chairs as far away from Buffy and Angel as possible.  
  
"Right, Well then." Giles said after everyone had gotten situated. "It seems that the prophecy is about Willow and Spike. They are the ones who will restore magickal balance throughout the world."  
  
"What exactly does that mean, magickal balance?" Xander asked.  
  
"Magick is in all things. It's neither good or evil. It is a neutral device used by both sides. Magick must always be in balance. Whatever energy you send out must come back. If one side upsets the balance it can effect all things. It can throw the whole world out of wack. And not just our world but others, too." Willow explained.  
  
"So, someone or something is going to mess with this magickal balance?" Faith asked.  
  
"Seems like. And we have to stop it. The thing is nobody's heard of anything near the Hellmouth that's been trying something like this. And we can't find any references on this Whisper thing." Willow said.  
  
"So lets get researching. We'll find out what this thing is and what's happening to you." Buffy said.  
  
They researched for hours. Willow stared at the computer for so long she thought her eyes were going to pop out. Even Spike helped. He raced through internet sites on Willow's laptop faster than any human could read. They found nothing. Finally Spike looked at his watch and rubbed a hand over his face.  
  
"Red, I have to go. I have about three hours until sunset and I haven't fed yet." Spike said.  
  
"You are not killing anybody in my town!" Buffy cried out.  
  
"Calm down, Slayer, I haven't been feeding in your town for weeks. What makes you think I'm gonna start now?"  
  
"Can't you see he's evil, Will? He doesn't even try to act like he doesn't kill every night." Willow lifted her eyes from the computer and gave Buffy a frustrated look.  
  
"I know what he is, Buffy. I know what he does, and where he goes. You aren't going to change my mind." Willow said, and then to Spike. "Go, I'll see you tomorrow." Spike smiled at her and got up from the library table. He glared at Buffy and Angel, and smirked at everyone else in the room. Walking past Willow he bent down and kissed the top of her head in a silent goodbye. Willow smiled up at him and grasped his hand tightly before he walked out. Buffy stared at her for a minute and then stood up.  
  
"I'm going to Willy's to see if he knows anything." Buffy said stiffly and then stalked out. Angel smiled slightly at Willow and then followed the blonde slayer. They were both in the need to beat something and Willy was a fine target. Willow sighed. She did not have time to deal with her best friend's problems. The rest of the gang began to drift out of the library and on to more productive projects. Faith went to talk to some contacts she had, Cordelia got a crisis call from Aurora and left in a hurry and Xander and Oz went to do some reconnaissance around the cemeteries. Giles and Wesley, the only ones besides Willow left working, hid in Giles' office pouring over research books, and calling contacts they had all over the world. Willow continued to search the Internet until she fell asleep shortly before dawn with her head on the desk. 


	6. Part Five

Title: Vanilla and Kinks  
  
Author: Witchy Red  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own any of them.  
  
Notes: NETHING else refer to previous parts  
  
Willow was so exhausted that she didn't hear the gang coming back in after a few hours of sleep nor did she feel Giles' carrying her to the couch in his office. She slept through the day and into the early evening finally waking up around dinnertime with her stomach growling. Ravenous she stepped out of the library to find everyone back at work. Buffy looked up at her and started to speak but Willow held up a hand.  
  
"Wait, I need food first." She mumbled. Xander hurriedly obliged her by grabbing a piece of piping hot pizza out of its delivery boxing and handing it to her on a paper plate. Willow quickly stuffed the piece in her mouth. She ate half of it before she looked up. Finally Buffy began to talk again.  
  
"We talked to Willy. Something's in town. A demon he thinks. Willy says the demon's been here for a few days but she's staying low. She's here because she needs the Hellmouth's extra power and she heard that there is not one but two slayers here. She was very interested in us. Willy said she has lackeys, a lot of them and that this demon is strong and she's lookin' to get stronger." Buffy said.  
  
"That's all he gave us? Doesn't this demon have a name?" Willow asked.  
  
"That's all he knew, Wills. Believe me. He was telling the truth." Buffy said. Willow sighed.  
  
"Did anyone else find out anything?" Willow asked.  
  
"Creepy demons with lots of eyes were out and about last night. They didn't bother us but they sure as hell were scary. What's with lots of eyes in weird places? That's just unnatural." Xander said.  
  
"Demons with to many eyes? Well, that isn't very helpful." Wesley said.  
  
"Sorry next time we'll ask for a name and number. They were carrying some mean looking swords. Getting chopped into bite size pieces was not on the schedule last night." Xander said a little insulted.  
  
A few minutes later the library door burst open and Spike fell into the room. He was beaten and bloody, barely able to stay conscious. The gang turned to see the blonde collapse onto the floor. Willow let out a small cry and ran over to him. She crouched down next to his body. She motioned Angel and Xander to help her turn him over onto his back. They hesitated until Willow sent them a scathing look. Together they turned the vampire over. He was so injured his body was almost dead weight, no pun intended.  
  
"Spike, are you okay? What happened?" Willow asked while smoothing back his hair, damp and bloody from sweat.  
  
"Demons attacked me. Never seen those buggers before. They came out of nowhere holding these huge scimitars with eyes blinking everywhere." Spike said weakly before passing out.  
  
"He's dieing." Angel said as he crouched beside the fallen vampire. Pain was etched across his face. "He's lost too much blood. Without blood a vampire can't function. They die." Willow looked at Spike and knew Angel was telling the truth. Slowly her resolve face settled into place and she knew what she had to do. Determined she reached down and lifted the cuff of Spike's jeans and pulled out a knife. Ignoring Buffy's sharp intake of breath and Faith's cry of protest, Willow sliced into her wrist across the vein and held it up to her lover's mouth. At first he wouldn't take it. The blood just dripped down onto his lips and over his chin. Willow reached over with her good hand and massaged his throat willing some of the blood down. Finally he started to drink. Greedily he pulled her wrist against his mouth and sucked hard swallowing as much as possible. Willow let him drink until she felt herself becoming weak. Then she tried to pull her wrist back. But the hunger had taken him over and he refused to let go.  
  
"Spike, let go!" Willow said sharply. Angel and the two slayers moved forward to pull her away from the vampire's grasp but it was useless. The hunger had him trapped. Buffy pulled out her stake. "No, stay back. It's okay." Willow said. Buffy hesitated. Willow concentrated on her arm. Slowly her skin turned red, growing hotter and hotter until her blood was practically boiling. It was so hot that it scalded Spike's mouth as soon as it touched. Growling, Spike pushed Willow's arm away and rolled onto his feet.  
  
"Willow?" He said, confused. "What's going on?" Willow crawled over to him and took his face in her hands rubbing his brow until the demon went away.  
  
"You needed blood. I gave it to you."  
  
"No! That's not how. . ." Spike trailed off. He was devastated.  
  
"I know but if I hadn't you would have died." Willow leaned over and whispered into his ear. "I'll let you do it again later."  
  
"Promise." Spike said. He had come back to himself and was now smirking as usual. Willow laughed and threw her arms around him. Suddenly she was crying. Spike wrapped her tightly in his embrace and stood. Willow wrapped her legs around his waist and Spike buried his head into her hair. They stood like that for a few minutes neither aware of the others gaping at them. Finally Giles' cleared his throat and Willow slid down off of Spike but he didn't release her. She turned in his arms and stared at the others.  
  
"I think we should research these many eyed demons. They sound-Icky." Willow said. Her innocent words relaxed the tension in the room and everyone got ready to work. Except for Buffy and Faith. The slayers could only take so much inactivity before they went stir-crazy so they went out patrolling.  
  
Buffy and Faith strolled through Mother of Sorrow's cemetery on the edge of town. They hadn't come across many vampires and there hadn't been any sightings of the demons that had attacked Spike.  
  
"I cannot believe she's with Spike! How could she? He's tried to kill us more times than I can count." Buffy complained. Her face was a mask of hurt and betrayal sounded in her voice.  
  
"She loves him, B. I don't like it any more than you do but she does love him and he loves her." Faith said.  
  
"Like Hell!" Buffy burst out. "There is not way they are in love. It's just sex."  
  
"Willow screwing somebody just because she was horny. Come on. She dumped Oz for him. If that's not love than I don't know what is. Not that I'm an expert or anything. Personally, I'll leave love to you two and keep on with fun no strings attached screwing."  
  
"You are a terminal slut. You know that?" Buffy said.  
  
"Yeah, and you wish you were." Faith said. Footsteps came from behind them and the girls spun around simultaneously. Behind them were three demons carrying nasty looking swords that Buffy recognized as scimitars and Faith as deadly. The demons were the pinky flesh color of newborn mice and had blinking eyes running up and down their arms, over their bare chests and under skin-lined pants to places neither girl wanted to think about. As if they were one entity the demons attacked, weapons raised and a battle cry sounded from their single mouth, almost hidden by the many eyes covering their faces.  
  
"Gross!" Buffy said in a disgusted voice as she blocked slashing blade. "I don't even think plastic surgery is going to help you. That's just nasty."  
  
"They can see us wherever we come from. That kinda leaves out any surprise attacks in the future." Faith said her mind already thinking tactics as she dodged blows.  
  
"Then how about we just use brute strength." Buffy said before going on the offensive and attacking the demon closest to her. The thing easily threw her into a nearby mausoleum. He didn't even seem to notice her. His attention was focused entirely on Faith.  
  
"Can't ever be monogamous. It's always just a little slap and tickle and then on to a new girl." Buffy mumbled as she felt blood running down the back of her head. Grunting a little she stood up and stood near to Faith.  
  
"Well, that worked. Let's hear it for brute strength." Faith said sarcastically.  
  
"Got a better idea?"  
  
"How about weapons?" Faith said and held up a short sword she had pulled from a sheath down her spine. Buffy smiled and quickly grabbed the crossbow she had left on the ground beside Faith.  
  
"Sounds like a plan." She said. Buffy brought up her crossbow, aimed and shot a demon through its heart. Feeling the adrenaline rush she aimed at another. Meanwhile Faith had jumped right into the middle of the group slicing through body parts as she passed. She didn't pay attention to where she cut only wanting to slice and dice as many demons as possible. They fought until their arms were numb and they could barely walk straight but every time they would kill a demon it would stand up again and continue to fight like they had never touched it. Finally Buffy could see it was pointless and called out to Faith.  
  
"Faith, Library, Now!" She shouted. They both took off out of the cemetery and ran toward the high school and the relative safety of the library. If they could reach it they would have a melee of weapons they could rely on to take care of the creepy monsters that were chasing them.  
  
Panting Faith and Buffy stumbled into the library and almost on top of Giles who was kneeling near the counter picking up a fallen book. He jumped up with a startled look and automatically stepped into a defensive stance. His days as Ripper along with his watcher training had instilled in him a great sense of weariness and he almost instinctively knew when an attack was coming. One was on its way to the library, an attack that had two slayers running. This was trouble.  
  
"Gross eyeball demons, coming fast!" Buffy panted at Giles before she followed Faith into the weapons closet. The two slayers threw out weapons to the rest of the gang who had jumped out of their seats. Willow, Xander, and Cordelia all pulled stakes out of their waistbands but Faith just shook her head and pointed to the arsenal on the floor. The stakes were not going to work. Willow kneeled on the floor and began handing out weapons. A short sword was thrust into Xander's hands, a crossbow was tossed to Oz, Cordelia snatched a long bow, and Willow chose an angry looking battle-ax. Giles held his favored sword and the slayers had managed to find matching Katanas, which they were now wielding with scary expertise. Spike and Angel both pulled out lethal looking knives from out of nowhere. They stood in a circle, their backs to each other, their faces searching the edges of the library for enemies. They didn't wait long. The demons burst in from all sides. The slayer's headquarters came alive with the fight. Furniture was smashed, thrown and kicked. Books were sent flying. People and demons crashed into walls, counters, and one another. Metal clashed loudly against metal and slid softly into flesh. The slayerettes and their friends were torn, bloody, and exhausted but their demon counterparts were still attacking strong. They didn't seem to ever slow down and they swatted away everything that was thrown at them like it was no more annoying then a buzzing fly. They had one purpose, to find the slayer. Then Xander lost his weapon. A demon smacked it out of his hand. Frantically Xander searched for something else he could use to defend himself. His hands came up empty. There was nothing around him except for books and splinters of library chairs barely big enough to use as a pencil. Then he spied a small lighter a few feet away. Xander scrambled toward the lighter and snatched it up. He stood proudly by the library stairs and lit it. Brandishing it like a sword he swiped it into one of the demon's path. It immediately caught fire and began to make a loud keening sound like it was in pain.  
  
"Fire!" Xander shouted loudly to his friends. "Fire hurts them!" And it was hurting them, but not killing. Still everyone began to search frantically for fire while still defending themselves. Unfortunately the only one who habitually carried a lighter on him was Spike and Xander was using his. Then Willow felt a foreign power coursing through her. It was the same power that had entered her the other night. And suddenly she had the knowledge. She knew how to get rid of them.  
  
"Enflamare!" Willow screamed above the din. She flung her hands out toward two demons and they caught on fire. She flung her hands in the other direction and took down another one. She continued to turn the demons into fiery ruins of their former selves. The gang stood back and stared at her. Willow's skin had begun to glow. It started at her necklace and then continued down her bodied until she was a mass of silver light. Her hair was blown back by an invisible wind and her eyes had darkened into dark onyx pools. She was a vision of power and magick. Every illusion that she had ever created about herself was stripped free and the world finally saw this young girl for what she was. She was the protector, the giver. She was the physical embodiment of the maiden, mother and crone.  
  
After what seemed an eternity the demons ran out of the library in a fiery blaze their skin melting and their bones popping from the heat. Slowly Willow's skin lost its glow and her eyes became their normal jade green again. She lowered her arms and massaged her shoulders. They ached from having been lifted to long. Willow turned to her friends who were standing behind her near the cage staring at her with awe. Except for Spike, Spike ran quickly over to her and pulled her down into the nearest half broken chair.  
  
"Red, are you okay?" He asked as he smoothed his hands down her arms and over her thighs reassuring himself that she was alive. Spike glared over at the watcher. "What the bloody hell is happening to her?" He growled.  
  
"I'm not sure." Giles stated calmly. "But if I were to take a guess Willow is coming into some hidden power. And if this has to do with her becoming the Huntress then you should expect an increase in power also. I do believe I might have found some answers though." Everyone turned to stare at him. "Right before those things attacked, a small leather bound book slipped out of one of the old watcher's journals. I just got the chance to read the cover. It's Emma Whearden's daily journal and it has the watcher's insignia engraved into it. Emma Whearden was a watcher." 


	7. Part Six

Title: Vanilla and Kinks  
  
Author: Witchy Red  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own any of them.  
  
Notes: NETHING else refer to previous parts  
  
Willow paced Spike's living room. Giles had refused to let her read the diary, saying that she needed to rest. Then he had sent everyone home. He said he wanted to read through it first and see if there was anything helpful. Willow, Spike and Faith had gone to Spike's to relax and regroup before their shift. Buffy had decided to break the patrol up into shifts. Her, Angel, Oz and Cordelia would take the first shift while Spike, Willow, Faith and Xander would patrol later. Willow wished she had taken the earlier shift. She had to do something! She couldn't just sit here waiting for Giles to figure everything out.  
  
Willow was so lost in thought that she didn't hear Faith or Spike calling her name. Finally Faith stood up from her seat grabbed Willows arms and kissed her solidly on the mouth. Willow's own mouth dropped open once Faith released her and she stared in complete shock. Faith had just kissed her, on the lips.  
  
"Wha-wha." Willow stuttered. Spike stared at his speechless red head and almost passed out from trying not to laugh. He knew he should feel jealous or ticked that someone had put their mouth on his witch but Willow's face was just too funny and he couldn't be angry.  
  
"I needed to get your attention." Faith said saucily. Then she threw Willow a lusty grin. "Besides, you look hot today."  
  
"Goddess." Willow breathed out. Tentatively she looked over at Spike to see how he was taking what just happened. He was doing his damndest not to laugh at her. She glared and he couldn't hold it in anymore. It was the first time he'd laughed uncontrollably in longer than he cared to think about. He could learn to like this slayer, so different from the blonde bitch. He'd still kill her if Willow wouldn't be pissed but that didn't mean he couldn't enjoy her sense of humor. Willow stalked over to him in mock anger. Before she did something they both might regret later Spike grabbed Willow around the waist and pulled her down onto his lap in the armchair he was sprawled in. Willow leaned back against his chest and crossed her arms over her chest.  
  
"I was just surprised." She said stubbornly. Her lip quivered in a stubborn pout.  
  
"Was that it, Red," Spike whispered into her ear. "Or did she make you hot?" Willow blushed at his lust filled words. It wasn't that what he said was true, Faith didn't make her hot, it was just that she was shocked a-and boys hardly ever made passes at her let alone girls and a girl had certainly never kissed her before. It was curiosity, yeah that was it, curiosity.  
  
Spike watched his lover think through this new problem in her head like it was a science project. He slowly stroked his hand up her side and over the curve of her breast, then back down again. His movements brought a new flare to the already burning fire in her belly. "Did she make you think naughty thoughts in that deliciously intelligent brain of yours? Is your skin crawling to feel hers?" Spike whispered breathily along her the side of her neck. Willow squirmed uncomfortably in his lap. Spike hoped she wasn't planning on standing up anytime soon or he'd look like a schoolboy with his first porno magazine. Willow shuddered as she felt his reaction.  
  
"Stop it!" She hissed frantically as Faith watched from across the room, her smirk growing more mischievous by the second. Spike smiled into her hair but his roaming hand stilled and he quit murmuring dirty thoughts into her ear. Willow sighed in relief. It seemed her embarrassment was over for the moment and she hurriedly changed the subject.  
  
"I think we should research these demons more. It's weird that they're not in any of mine or Giles's books. I can't find them on the Net either."  
  
"Willow, we've been researching for like three days. We haven't found anything on any of this stuff except for what's in that journal that Giles found and we have to wait until tomorrow to find out what it says. I say we go find the other's and tell them we'll patrol early." Faith said. After a few minutes of arguing they agreed to go find Buffy and the others and take over patrolling but before they could grab jackets and leave the phone rang.  
  
"Hello." Willow said after she had tripped over the love seat to answer. She wondered who would be calling so late it was after midnight.  
  
"Willow, Bella?" the voice came across tinny and far away.  
  
"Nana?" Willow asked. "Is that you?"  
  
"Yes, my bambina. I'm sorry I called so late but I figured you would be up. You're a Stinetti and Stinetti's are night owls."  
  
"Nana, I'm a Rosenberg."  
  
"Piffle, doesn't matter what your daddy's last name is you are a Stinetti and that's why I'm calling. It has started dear. We have all felt it and the rest of the family are rejoicing and grieving."  
  
"What's happened, Nana?"  
  
"The transformation, Bella, I felt it. You are becoming the Huntress." Willow gasped.  
  
"You knew this was going to happen?"  
  
"Yes my dear we all knew. It was written on the ancient scrolls in human blood and buried deep into the ground thousands of years ago. You are the next Huntress."  
  
"How do you know about this and what do you mean the next Huntress?" Willow asked.  
  
"You were called when the last Huntress died. Sophia Larenzo was your fifth cousin twice removed. She had been the Huntress for two hundred years. Her Hunter and she had worked mostly on the astral plains. That was where they were needed."  
  
"What exactly is a Huntress, Nana?"  
  
"You don't know? Your mother, she didn't tell you? I know she wanted a normal life but she should of told you when she saw the changes."  
  
"Nana, I haven't seen Mom in three months." Willow said, not at all surprised that her mother had been keeping very important family secrets from her.  
  
"So this Huntress thing, it stays in our family?"  
  
"Oh, yes, every other generation an elemental is called. She, it is always a daughter, is the essence of one of the four elements. She is either earth, water, fire, or air. Us elementals store magick that the Huntress pulls upon in times of need. There have been huntresses since before the first slayer was born."  
  
"Wait, you know about slayers?"  
  
"Of course, anyway, Willow, listen to me. You need to hear this it is very important. The Huntress does not just use magick, she is magick. Her entire being is made of magick. She must keep the balance at all costs. You and your Hunter will be gaining power and strength rapidly over the next few weeks. You will be simultaneously hot and cold, tired and hyper. It's going to be very uncomfortable but right now is also when your power is the strongest. Be careful and always hold control.  
  
You are special, Willow. The prophecy, you have heard the prophecy right?"  
  
"Yes, Nana."  
  
"Well, when you were born I knew instantly that it was about you. I told your mother, Sheila you can't escape it, your baby girl is the weeping one. She is Willow. You're mother of course laughed at me. She was always so bitter about not inheriting the magick. She never understood how much of a pain in the ass it is. But even though she refused to acknowledge any of her teachings she named you Willow. Then she fled to Sunnydale of all places. Where she continues to live in denial as her daughter flirts with power, befriends the slayer, and falls in love with a vampire."  
  
"So, I'm a fighter? What am I supposed to fight? This new demon? His nasty looking henchmen?"  
  
"I do not know. I can only tell you that Sophia was murdered on the physical plain. Sophia was immortal on the physical plain. Whatever killed her stole powerful magick and it is disrupting things everywhere. Turn on the news and you'll see riots breaking out where there has been peace for a millennia and treaties being made between countries that have been at war since before my time. Something powerful is coming, Bella. You must be very careful. Your Hunter is your protector. Let him. I know how stubborn you are." Willow's Nana told her firmly.  
  
"I'm not stubborn, I'm just always right." Willow repeated the familiar line. Nana and she argued the topic every time they spoke.  
  
"What did you mean earlier about Sophia being immortal? Am I immortal?"  
  
"Every Huntress works where she is needed and best suited. It was seen that in the Astral plains and in the ghost world there would be much trouble so Sophia spent most of her time there and was supposed to be immortal here. She could die just not in the physical plains. Her Hunter was of the astral plains. He had no physical body and alas was unable to save his love. When a Huntress dies so does her Hunter. That is all I know. I can tell you nothing more." Her grandmother said tiredly.  
  
"But, what about Emma Whearden, and this necklace I found and her letter?"  
  
"You found the letter? Well then at least you knew a little bit. Emma Whearden was you're a few greats grandmother, she was a watcher and a powerful seer but not an elemental. A horrible demon swept through England at that time and Emma was constantly attacked with visions of violence and death from it. They hid her in the dungeons of an old unused castle and claimed she had been imprisoned and burned at the stake. They feared for her life. Eventually the demon killed her through her visions but not before she could pour all of her magick into a necklace for the weeping one and write a journal. It seems you have found the necklace but the journal has been lost for over a hundred years."  
  
"We found it."  
  
"You did? Where?"  
  
"Well, actually Giles found it. It was stuck between some old watcher's diaries. I guess since Giles was the activated watcher and now Wesley is, they get the originals."  
  
"Then maybe they can provide you some insight into what exactly you are fighting at the moment. This conversation has given us a lot to think about, Bambina. I must go now. Be careful. Blessed be."  
  
"Blessed Be, Nana. Go get some sleep." Willow hung up the phone and turned to her very curious friends. "Faith go and find the others and tell them to meet us at the library. Spike we have to get to the library." Willow said. Then she walked out the door without waiting to see if anyone was following her. Of course after a few steps she stopped and glanced back just to make sure. Faith was loping off in the direction of Haughtler Memorial cemetery and Spike was locking her door behind him. He hurriedly caught up to her and wrapped his arm around her shoulders comfortingly. Silently, Spike refrained himself from asking any questions, they walked to the library taking shortcuts through the playground and staking a few vampires on the way.  
  
Everyone was finally gathered into the library and they all stared intently at Willow wondering what had happened. Willow sighed softly and sat down in a chair. She layed her head back and closed her eyes, taking a few deep breaths. Her photographic memory allowed the earlier conversation with Nana to tumble back into Willow's head. Quietly, with her eyes closed, Willow told her friends what her grandmother had said. When she had finished everyone was silent. Willow opened her eyes and Spike instantly caught them with his own. Willow could see he was troubled and a sick feeling settled in the bottom of her stomach. Her mind began throwing out horrible thoughts that she tried to ignore but there was no getting around them. The dominating thought was that Spike was going to leave her. They weren't in love, she was forcing him to work with his sworn enemies and now it seemed that because of her his life, or un-life as the case may be, was going to end and now he would have to fight and be responsible. Spike hated being responsible for anyone other than himself and his minions. There was no reason for him to stay. As Giles began to speak Willow tried to shove these thoughts out of her over-active brain but all she managed to do was push them to the side.  
  
"It seems Willow that your family has been keeping some very important information from you. You must call back your grandmother and find out everything she knows. You must learn how to control what is happening. Also, not to change the subject but I think I have discovered at least partly who the demon is, what he wants, and where Emma Whearden fits in. Her journal is very informative. If you don't mind there are a few passages I believe should be read." Giles said.  
  
"England January 3, 1786  
  
  
  
I have been locked away in this cold dark room for over two weeks. The counsel says that they are keeping me safe. They don't listen when I tell them that they cannot keep me safe for she is killing me in my dreams. She calls herself the Whisper and I live inside her every night. Every night I enter her mind. I see her as she methodically kills watchers and sorcerors. They are all brutal deaths full of pain and torture. There is a pattern to her killings though. She kills all but the most powerful. She has one watcher and three magick users captive. Her demon followers torture them throughout the day. I can hear screams ring out through there lair. The Whisper knows I am there. She is the one that pulls me in. She wants me to tell her where I am. She wants my power. I will be her final sacrifice.  
  
During the day when I do not sleep I have my guards bring me books, scrolls, manuscripts and watchers diaries. I search through them looking for anything that could be of use. Today I found something while searching through an early watcher's journal. He talks about a ritual that would give a demon physical form. He said that his slayer, Sian, was looking for a way to stop it. The ritual upsets the magickal balance and steals power right from the earth. The ritual sounded amazingly similar to the one that I know the demon is planning. The sacrifices and the ceremonies are the same. The only difference is the sacrifices themselves. It seems they needed several people of great magickal ability. The ritual that the Whisper is attempting calls not only for people of magickal ability but also for watchers. Not many demons realize that watcher's blood is different, more powerful, than a normal human's. It is one of the counsel's most heavily guarded secrets. This demon knows though and she is willing to use it.  
  
End journal entry" Giles read.  
  
"It seems that Ms. Whearden also dealt with the Whisper. And so has a very early slayer. I checked Sian's watcher's journal. Her watcher describes the same demons that we have been fighting the past few days. There are a few more entries of some importance so please bear with me.  
  
"England March 26, 1786  
  
  
  
I am growing weaker everyday. I can barely get out of my bed to use the loo most days. My skin is dry and cracked and I have a very high fever. I cough up blood every few minutes. The doctors do not know what's wrong with me. It's the Whisper. She is killing me from a distance, trying to draw me out. I will not be her pawn!  
  
I have been having those dreams again, the one's of my grand-daughter of many greats. The huntress, Willow. She will be so powerful. I hope it is enough because the Whisper will succeed here. I can feel it. Willow is our last hope. She must defeat the Whisper or magick will forever be unbalanced. Hell will reign on earth.  
  
End journal entry.  
  
"England May 1, 1786  
  
  
  
I have learned something of great importance. The Whisper was a slayer! When the Whisper was first attempting the ritual Sian interrupted it and it became distorted. In a magickal blast of lightening all of the Whisper's demon minions and Sian were killed. The Whisper was only half-formed and enraged because she could not finish the ritual. It seems that she melded with the dead slayer and took over her body. In the slayer's body the Whisper traveled the known world figuring out how to perform the changed ritual and form his own body. Only then would he have all of his power. Fully formed the demon will have complete control over magick. Not even the Hunter and Huntress will be able to stop him.  
  
After many centuries the slayer's body has grown tired and the Whisper needs to find another. She craves the power of a young slayer. Kira is in danger. She cannot fight the Whisper and the Huntress, my niece Anastasia, is not strong enough. I pray that I am wrong but in my heart I know that they will both be defeated. I am too weak to help them. It is all I can do to keep from giving up and going to the Whisper but if I do she will be that much closer to becoming whole.  
  
I have decided that before I die I will pour my magick into my precious dragon's heart necklace. Magick cannot save me. I hope that it will do my Willow some good.  
  
I know this will be my last entry. I will die within the week. I am sorry that I will never get to see my daughter or my grand-daughter again. I ask God to watch over them and keep them safe. I will do the same. I hope they realize that I never wanted to leave them. I didn't have a choice. I love them both very much. I vow that the Whisper will not get them. I vow that I will do everything in my power to stop the demon.  
  
End Entry 


	8. Part Seven

Title: Vanilla and Kinks  
  
Author: Witchy Red  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own any of them.  
  
Notes: NETHING else refer to previous parts  
  
That is all there is. Wesley has gathered from colleagues that Emma Whearden died from cancer two days after this was written. It seems that draining herself of all magick quickened the disease. It was the last act she ever performed."  
  
"So, Emma Whearden was my grandmother? This demon thing was after her?" Willow asked.  
  
"It seems so, yes." Giles answered her.  
  
"And, I'm supposed to fight it? The whole world lies on my shoulders?"  
  
"Yours and Spike's."  
  
"But, I'm not she who saves the world. I'm she who researches and does everybody's homework. I can't save the world! I'm just Willow." Willow was so worked up that she was pacing the library, flinging her arms out from her body and raising her voice to almost piercing levels. Spike grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her into a nearby chair. He kneeled in front of her and rubbed her arms, calming them both.  
  
"Willow, calm down."  
  
"I can't. A few days ago I was just a normal girl but now I'm this big magickal person who's supposed to save the world and fight evil and be the last hope for humanity and I don't even know how I'm supposed to do it. And now I'm probably going to die, and my boyfriend's gonna leave me, and my friends are gonna be in danger and I don't know what to do about it." Willow said, panicked.  
  
"Willow, you're not gonna die, you're friends will be fine, unfortunately, you'll kill this Whisper thing and why the bloody hell do you think I'm going anywhere?"  
  
"Well, why would you stay? I got you involved in this and you have to be nice to Buffy, and you have this big destiny thing, and now when I die you die, and I've ruined your life!" Willow said. Her eyes were overflowing with tears and Spike felt his heart break.  
  
"Why would I stay? Maybe because I love you. I can think of nothing I want more than to protect you for the rest of our lives."  
  
"You love me? But, what about Drusilla?"  
  
"Forget, Dru. There's only so much of a girl talking to dolls and running out on you every five minutes that a man can take. But you, you're loyal and brave and strong. You have sexy legs and beautiful eyes. The only thing wrong with you is your friends and you can't help that they're morons. How could I not love you?"  
  
"Don't be mean to my friends." Willow said automatically. "So you really love me? Because I love you so much." Spike smiled and leaned up to kiss her. Quietly behind them Willow heard a quiet gagging noise. She looked up and saw Xander staring innocently at the ceiling. When he felt her gaze on him he looked at her and smiled.  
  
"Sorry, got something in my throat." Willow rolled her eyes.  
  
Buffy watched Willow's almost break-down with tears in her eyes. Her friends were not supposed to have to deal with this stuff. She was supposed to protect them. How could she protect Willow from her own destiny? How was she going to fight this for her. She couldn't and that ate at her. She was used to being the strong one that took away all the demons. Buffy kneeled down next to Willow, pushing Spike out of the way and took her hands. Spike growled low in his throat but both Willow and Buffy ignored him.  
  
"Willow, if I could, I'd take away all of the badness but I can't and maybe it's for the best because you can fight this and we'll all be right here with you. We'll kick its ass. And as much as I hate to admit it Spike would give his life for you." Buffy said. Willow smiled tearfully into the blonde slayer's eyes.  
  
As the slayer reassured her friend Spike slipped away from the group and motioned Angel to follow him. Angel and Spike went into Giles's office. Angel looked at his childe suspiciously.  
  
"What is it, Spike?"  
  
"I want you to perform the Committere." Spike said. Angel couldn't have been more amazed if he tried. Spike wanted to meld with somebody? Spike wouldn't even meld with Drusilla. For the first time Angel truly believed that Spike loved Willow as much as he was able.  
  
"You want to become the Comitta?"  
  
"Yes, as soon as possible. I need to protect Willow and the only way I can see doing that is for us to become Comitta."  
  
"So, the only reason that you would go through this ritual is because it's part of your duty?" Angel asked. Fury rang through out his voice.  
  
"What? Hell, no! I want her, forever. If I have to turn her I will but I figured she would enjoy this better and. . ." Spike trailed off.  
  
"And?"  
  
"And I want to become one with her. I want to know her thoughts and emotions. I want her to know mine." Spike continued in a rush. Angel smiled. That was the answer he was looking for.  
  
"Does Willow agree with you?"  
  
"We've talked about it but we both figured we always had time. She's going to be nervous about performing the ritual now. If you could get your bint to support this it would go a long way to calming her down."  
  
"Her name is Buffy." Angel said quietly.  
  
"Whatever. Will you do it?"  
  
"If Willow agrees then yes, I'll do it." Angel said and received his first smile from Spike in almost a century.  
  
Spike was so excited that he practically skipped out of the office. Only Faith, Buffy and Willow were left in the library. When Willow saw Spike she smiled nervously.  
  
"Spike?" Willow asked.  
  
"I'll tell you back at my place, Pet." Spike said and held out his hand for her. Willow rose from her seat and took it. Smiling at the slayers she followed her lover out into the night 


	9. Part Eight

Title: Vanilla and Kinks  
  
Author: Witchy Red  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own any of them.  
  
Notes: NETHING else refer to previous parts  
  
Buffy sat quietly in the library long after everyone else had left. Her mind was busy trying to process everything that had happened in the last few days. So much of her life that she had taken for granted had changed. Foremost in her mind was that her best friend was not the person that Buffy had thought she was. She was so strong. And she hadn't confided in Buffy. She hadn't let Buffy take care of her. Buffy couldn't understand how she had missed when Willow had become her own person instead of the slayer's shadow. Buffy wasn't sure if she could stand being the protected instead of the protector. Everything had been turned around on her. She was the slayer but there was nothing she could do this time. She had to depend on her worst enemy and her best friend who happened to be sleeping with her worst enemy.  
  
Buffy groaned. She so did not want to be thinking about Willow and Spike sleeping together. Thoughts like that made her stomach roll. She wished that things were simple and easy again but she had a feeling that life was going to get much more complicated.  
  
The phone rang, startling Buffy out of her thoughts. She jumped up to get it and found a frantic Spike on the other end. Willow, something had happened to Willow. Buffy dropped the phone, not bothering to hang it up. Please God let Willow be okay was the only thought through running through her head as she raced out the door.  
  
Faith and Xander patrolled the cemetery, stakes in hand. They talked, awkwardly. Not about anything important just day to day stuff. Xander thought that if they were anymore uncomfortable around one another he would be asking her about the weather. He was almost ready to resort to the clichéd topic when they were attacked. One tackled Xander and he landed on his back with a vamp trying to use him as an all you can eat buffet. Faith pulled the vampire off of him and staked it. Xander started to mutter thanks but Faith was off. She ran after the two other's that had scattered when they realized they were dealing with a slayer. They didn't get very far. Faith quickly caught up to them and staked one. The other fought back providing the slayer with a little exercise. Xander watched her from a few hundred feet away. He knew that if he got any closer he would be a hindrance not help. After Faith had dusted the second vamp she smiled and jogged over to him. She was about to say something when Xander's cell phone rang.  
  
"Hello." Xander asked cautiously. The only reason someone would be calling this late was if something was wrong. Xander received most of his calls in the middle of the night.  
  
Faith watched curiously wondering who was on the other end. It must have been of the bad because Xander's face had gone pale.  
  
"We're on our way." Xander said after listening for a few minutes. He looked at Faith and then started out of the cemetery.  
  
"Hey," Faith called after him. "What's going on?"  
  
Xander didn't answer. He just kept walking, motioning for her to follow.  
  
Giles hung up with Xander and ran out the door of his apartment. Wesley was following slightly slower. He was trying to research and run at the same time unfortunately he wasn't very good at it.  
  
"Put the damn book down and hurry up!" Giles shouted at him. He was at his car and unlocking the doors but Wesley hadn't even left the apartment yet. Wesley dropped the book at the door and rushed out to Giles.  
  
"I'm sorry but I thought I had found something."  
  
"Did you?"  
  
"Unfortunately, no. Almost nothing that has been happening is recorded." Wesley said. He sounded amazed that no one had thought to write down all of their tortuous experiences for him to read about later. Giles shook his head. He wondered about the new watcher. His head wasn't always screwed on straight. Giles sighed and started the car. They had to get to Willow's 


	10. Part Nine

Title: Vanilla and Kinks  
  
Author: Witchy Red  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own any of them.  
  
Notes: NETHING else refer to previous parts  
  
Loud screams could be heard from a certain house on Antino Drive. The neighbors peaked out their windows and then closed them tight, locking out the horrible sounds. They wanted no part of it. If they stayed inside whatever was out there would be gone in the morning.  
  
Inside the two story house a young red-head struggled with her vampire lover as he tried to keep her from hurting herself. Spike held Willow's arms at her sides with as much strength as he could without hurting her. It didn't help. She continued her thrashing and high keening sounds emitted from her throat. Spike couldn't figure out what was wrong with her.  
  
With all of Spike's attention on his witch he neglected to listen to the door and was surprised when the slayer and her gang of white hats burst in. Buffy rushed across the room and pulled a stake out of her jeans.  
  
"What the Hell did you do to her?" She asked  
  
"I didn't do anything!" Spike cried as Willow renewed her struggles. "We were walking home and she was feeling really tired. Then she just collapsed! When I got her back here and layed her down she started to thrash about. I don't know what's happening!" Buffy saw the panicked look on his face and put the stake back into her pocket. She kneeled next to the vampire and took one of Willows swinging arms. The instant she touched the witches skin she was scalded. She dropped the girls arm.  
  
"She's burning up." Buffy said. Giles walked over and felt Willow's forehead. Her skin blistered his hand.  
  
"Oh, dear. I do hope this is only a part of the transformation." Giles said.  
  
"You hope!" Spike shouted. He slipped into his game face and grabbed Giles by the throat. Spike shoved him against the wall choking him.  
  
"Fix her." He said. "Fix her."  
  
Buffy pulled her stake out of her pocket again berating herself for ever putting it away. She raced over to where Spike was strangling her watcher but was intercepted by Angel.  
  
"Don't." He said. Then he grabbed Spikes arm and squeezed. "You're going to kill him. If he dies he won't be able to help Willow or you."  
  
"I'm fine." Spike growled but slowly let go of the watcher.  
  
"Spike, you're colder than death but you're sweating profusely."  
  
"I'm a vampire, peaches. I'm supposed to be cold remember."  
  
"Not this cold. Something is wrong with you two." Angel continued undaunted. Spike was going to answer but before he could Willow sat up screaming her eyes popping open. Then she began to cry.  
  
Spike rushed over to the couch and gathered the red-head in his arms. She wrapped herself around him and sobbed into him. Her small hands clung to his shirt and she pressed her body into his as if she couldn't get close enough. Her head was buried into his neck and he could feel the hot tears soaking his skin.  
  
"Red, Luv, what's wrong. Baby, come on. Everything's okay. Just tell me what happened. You're safe. I swear. I won't let anything happen to you." Spike whispered into her ear as he smoothed her hair and rubbed her back.  
  
Willow continued to cry. Her friends stood around her in a circle, unsure of what to do. Buffy hid her head in Angel's duster trying to keep anyone from seeing her tears. Faith and Xander's faces were identical masks of anger at whoever had done this to their friend. Giles and Wesley looked very uncomfortable and slowly migrated to the kitchen to pour tea for everyone. They were all silent as they listened the soft sobs of the one person they all loved.  
  
Eventually Willow's tears stopped and her hold on Spike loosened. Spike slowly pushed her back until he could look down into her face. He stared into her eyes and wiped the tears from her face.  
  
"Baby, what happened?"  
  
"I saw." Willow said but she couldn't finish. She took a breath and then started again. "I saw her, the Whisper. I was her. She's so strong. I was in an old church or something like it. There was an alter. There were only candles lighting the room so I couldn't see it very well but behind the alter was some kind of design. It looked like circles and stars intertwined. Inside the design was a snake. It was glowing or something and all those demons that keep attacking us, they were chanting around the alter. The Whisper, I, was standing in front of the alter. I had a dagger in my hand. It was dripping, oh Goddess, it was dripping blood." Willow said. She started to cry again. Small sobs racked her body and Spike pulled her into his arms.  
  
"Who's blood?" Wesley asked. "Did you see who the sacrifice was?" Willow nodded her head.  
  
"It was Mrs. Sauri, the magick shoppe owner. She's the high priestess for the Oak Wind Coven. I've. . ." Willow stopped and collected herself. She couldn't believe they had taken Mrs. Sauri. She was the strongest witch in Sunnydale. "I've practiced with her a few times. The demon, the Whisper, she killed her." Willow ended. She looked down at her hands. "I can't believe she's gone."  
  
"That means she is one sacrifice closer to completing the ritual. If she is not stopped she'll end the world." Wesley said.  
  
"Hey there's something new, an apocalypse." Buffy piped up. Everybody looked at her. "What, it's not like we haven't done this before."  
  
"Being the one who has to do the slaying is pretty new to me." Willow said shakily. She was close to tears for the third time that night. Buffy could have hit herself. She couldn't believe she had been so insensitive. Willow was seriously freaking out. She kneeled down next to Willow and grasped her hands.  
  
"Will, I'm sorry. I was just saying that we've had prophesies of the apocalypse before and we probably will again. I'm not going to let this thing hurt you. I promise."  
  
"You can't promise, Buff. This isn't your fight, not really. I'm supposed to do this. I'm supposed to fight her." Willow said.  
  
"It's never been your fight. It's always been mine. I'm not going to let you get through this alone when you've never left me. We're in this together Willow, all of us, no matter what." Buffy said tearfully. Willow leaned over and they embraced, both of them crying. Spike rolled his eyes and extracted himself from Willow. He stood up and walked over to where Giles was massaging his neck.  
  
"What the hell happened to her? She was hurting and I couldn't help her. I thought I was supposed to be her protector. How can I help her from that?" Spike said harshly and stuck a cigarette in his mouth. He was about to light it when Willow cleared her throat.  
  
"No, smoking in my house." She said. Spike rolled his eyes again and muttered what sounded suspiciously like bloody hell before shoving the cigarette back into its box.  
  
"You did protect me, Spike." Willow said, the joking had disappeared and warm trust filled her voice. "You got help. Sometimes that's all you can do." Spike didn't look convinced. Willow knew he felt like he had let her down but there was really nothing else he could have done. Willow realized there was nothing else she could say to make him feel better so she turned to the rest of the group. "This is bad but we've had bad before. Buffy's right. If we don't work together on this then we'll die and the world will be at the mercy of that bitch. 


	11. Part Ten

Title: Vanilla and Kinks  
  
Author: Witchy Red  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own any of them.  
  
Notes: NETHING else refer to previous parts  
  
Everyone stared silently. Willow sighed and dropped her head onto Spike's chest. They all thought she was losing it, going crazy from the stress. She wasn't. She was pissed more pissed then she had ever been. Willow shut her eyes tightly and shifted her head. She was suddenly so cold. Shivers were running down her body. Her forehead was like ice. Willow sat up and looked at Spike. She reached up to touch his face and then drew back in pain. His skin was so cold it had burned her. Something was wrong.  
  
"Spike, why are you so cold?"  
  
"What do you mean, Luv?" Spike asked curiously.  
  
"Your skin, it's freezing. It burned my hand when I touched it because of the cold." Willow said holding up her injured hand. Spike stared at her red swollen hand confused.  
  
"Can't you feel it?" Willow asked.  
  
"No, I feel fine."  
  
"He was cold earlier, too." Angel said. He moved closer to the couch as if he could fix Spike with a softly spoken word and a hand gesture. Spike glared spitefully at him and Angel retreated back to his corner.  
  
"When was the last time you fed?" Willow asked. Spike hesitated. He looked at the two slayers standing a few feet away from him and weighed his odds. With the way his Red had been acting lately he figured they were pretty good.  
  
"I fed a few hours after I got up. It hasn't been so long that I should be burning you."  
  
Buffy stiffened as Spike talked about feeding. She did not need to hear about that. She was supposed to kill monsters like him so they wouldn't kill. Now, because of her best friend, who was supposed to be a white-hat, she was letting one roam free. It grated against every slayer instinct she possessed but for the sake of her friend's happiness she would do it. She would do anything for her friends.  
  
"Don't worry, Slayer. I didn't kill her." Spike told the blonde slayer.  
  
"And I'm supposed to believe you because?" Buffy retorted. As Willow listened to her best friend and her mate argue her vision began to fade until she could see nothing. Willow knew she should be afraid. This was what had happened before. She was going back. But she couldn't seem to work up the energy to care. She just sat, staring, waiting for her vision to clear. When it did she was back in the temple. This time instead of being The Whisper she was just an invisible peeking tom watching the scene unfold.  
  
The Whisper was sitting in front of the alter, her back to the room. She looked as if she was praying but her back shook with exhaustion. She gasped for air she did not need, for she was in a dead and decomposing body, and weakly tried to stand. Her demon servants rushed over to help but she waved them off. She was strong enough to stand. She would not except help. Finally she stood and turned toward her minions.  
  
"I need the slayers! Go! Bring them to me!" The Whisper cried out. Her followers rushed to obey her every word and left her alone to finally give in to her weakness and sink back down to the cement floor.  
  
Willow's vision swirled into a hue of colors and then pulled sharply back into focus. She was back in her own house but it was not the peaceful weariness that she had left. Instead it was a mass of confusion and violence. The demons were back and the rest of the Scoobies were fending them off. Xander and Wesley were attempting to stave off two with an end table and a couple of lighters, Giles was lost in a mass of demons but every so often a flash of metal was seen and body parts flew. Buffy was unconscious and thrown over a demon's shoulders while Angel and Faith tried to fight to her side. Spike was, amazingly enough, using his bear hands to kill more then the rest of them combined. Whenever he would grab a demon its skin would freeze into ice crystals and then burst into flame. When it was through all that was left of them were tiny piles of ash and ice. Willow's dazed mind didn't even sense the weirdness in it she was just glad that he was safe. She noticed how he had not moved more than two feet from her in his fight. Somehow he managed to keep himself between herself and the demons.  
  
My protector. Willow thought. Then she was pulled out of her thoughts by Faith's screams. A demon had her by the waist and no matter how much she struggled she could not get free. The demon began to carry her out the door and after the one who had already taken Buffy. Before Willow could blink Angel and Giles tried to run after them but swarms of demons surrounded them. Their were to many to fight and the men could feel their death coming. Willow yelled out the same spell she had used at the library only this time with extra power. The vampires inside her house all burst into flame. Their screams filled the air but they didn't die. Then an icy blast of air flew through the room and the fire crystallized trapping the demons inside. When Willow threw a blast of pure power at the frozen demons the crystal ice exploded blowing up the demons in the process. Spike and Willow had killed all of the demons that were inside the house but not even one spell could reach the ones that had taken the slayers. The demons escaped with the gang's leaders, with the slayers. 


	12. Part Eleven

Title: Vanilla and Kinks  
Author: Witchy Red  
Disclaimer: I don't own any of them.  
Notes: NETHING else refer to previous parts  
  
"Dammit, come on we're going to lose them!" Willow screamed as she ran for the door. Spike caught up to her before she could reached it and wrapped his arm around her waist, stopping her.   
"Luv, they didn't run back to the lair. They disappeared as soon as they hit your porch. They didn't walk here and they aren't going to walk back. We can't follow them." Spike said in a calming voice. He held her tightly against his chest and smoothed down her hair. Eventually she stopped struggling.   
"Ok, Spike you can let me go." She said after a few minutes. He let her go. She stepped away but gripped his hand not wanting to lose contact.  
"That's it? Pouf junior here says no and we just listen? Like Hell. I'm going after them!" Xander burst out but he was stopped when Angel stepped in front of him.   
"If you go now you'll just wander around Sunnydale without anyhope of finding them. We don't have time for that." He said in a low but fierce voice. He was not about to have this boy get the love of his life killed because of his stupidity.  
"Then how are we going to find them?" Willow asked.  
"We'll use your vision." Angel said. "Try and figure out where you were." Willow looked at him. She hadn't seen a whole lot of her surroundings and everything had been dark. There was little hope of learning anything from her vision. Willow sighed. But it was all they had to go on so she began to tell them what she had seen.   
As Willow spoke Wesley wandered out of the room. He hadn't lived in the area long enough to be of any help and something in the book he had been reading was bothering him. Wesley paced the hall he found himself in reading the passage that was giving him trouble. The book was a large leather bound text with letters inscribed in the text that hardly anyone except Wesley could read because it was in ancient Egyptian. Even Wesley was having a hard time deciphering it. He was on his fifteenth lap of the hall when he had an epiphany.  
"That's it!" He cried. Wesley ran back into the living room waving the book in the air. Willow paused in her recount of her vision and everyone turned to look at the young watcher.  
"What's it?" Xander asked.   
"The Whisper, I know who she is. It was right in front of my face all this time."  
"Yeah, that's something we wanted to hear." Spike said. "We could have killed her two days ago."  
"No, I don't even know if we can kill her now. At full power, in her own form, the Whisper is so powerful and so sadistic that even the other demons are afraid of her. See back when humanity was first making an appearance in this world, and the demons still ruled, there was one demon who gained control of a part of the world where Egypt and a few other countries are now. She was a cruel master, treating her demon servants as slaves. Her human slaves were little more than part of the scenery, scenery that could be thrown, kicked, punched and tortured whenever she had the whim. The other demon overlords let her be as long as she stayed in her own territory but when she began to cause war in lands occupied by the higher demons they decided that she was to be banished. After a lot of war and a very precise ritual The Whisper was cast out of our dimension and into another but her faithful demon servants called the Ecketi, they would be our friends with too many eyes, managed to escape this fate and are forever trying to use the ritual in reverse to bring their master back. Once she is in her own form in this dimension she will be unstoppable.  
"And that will help us get Buffy and Faith back how?" Xander asked. Wesley cast an irritated glance at Xander and saw that everyone else was also looking impatiently at him not wanting to wait for him to get to the point. He cleared his throat.  
"There's more." He said stiffly and fiddled with his tie. "The Whisper needs a place of immeasurable power to perform her ritual. She was likely pulled here not only by the slayers but also by the force of the Hellmouth. The Whisper will be wherever the most powerful energy source is in Sunnydale." Wesley finished. Everyone stared at him. Then Cordelia, who Xander had gone to get after the Slayers were taken, had an epiphany.   
"The Hellmouth!" She cried out. Spike gave her a look.  
"Welcome to five minutes ago." He said.  
"No, that's where she is, in that old church under the library. Isn't it supposed to be some big mystical whos-it?"  
"She's right. The power there is incomprehensible." Willow said decisivly.   
"So, we're going underground?" Xander said. He stood up as if to leave but when no one followed he looked around confused. "Hello, people, we know where they are. Let's go!"   
"And, how pray tell, do you plan on getting them out and killing the Whisper?" Giles asked tiredly. He removed his glasses and rubbed the bridge of his nose, wishing for an aspirin.  
"We go, we fight, Willow slays, we party." Xander said and to his mind it was as simple as that. He refused to believe that there was even a chance of them losing or of him losing another friend.  
"It's not that easy. I don't even know if I can stand right now. The only time I feel strong is when we're fighting. And besides, you heard what Wesley said. She's so powerful that he doesn't know if we can kill her." Willow said.  
"Willow, take an hour to get your strength back up. Spike can stay with you. God knows, what he would do without you around." Giles said. Spike looked offended. "Please, Spike, everytime you've been in Sunnydale you've tried to kill us. Don't tell me you think we actually trust you. Angel, go to Willie's and kill that little maggot if he doesn't tell you everything he knows. He was lying the last time you went. The rest of us are going back to the library. We're going to find a way to kill this thing. I want everyone back here in an hour equipped with every weapon we own." Giles said. His voice was hard and angry. He was sick to death of demons screwing with his kids. It looked like it was going to take a little bit of Ripper for them to understand that. Giles could be ruthless when need be and it seemed that he needed to. He would dismember this bitch piece by piece if he had to but she would die tonight. 


	13. Part Twelve

Title: Vanilla and Kinks  
Author: Witchy Red  
Disclaimer: I don't own any of them  
Distribution: Bloody Kisses, NHA, fanfiction.net  
Summary: Willow finds out the family secret (Willow/Spike)  
Rating: R  
  
The Whisper's Lair  
  
Faith couldn't believe she had let herself be captured. She was so pissed. And now she was bound to some pole with chains that refused to break no matter how hard she pulled. She was in what looked like an old church except where a cross should be was the design that Willow had explained. Buffy was lying next to her, unconcious, on the cement floor. Her head was a bloody mess and Faith had a feeling that she wasn't going to be much help. It was the first time that Faith had ever wanted to hear the blonde slayer whining. Just one word would give her the confidence she needed and the feeling that she wasn't alone.  
Faith flung her head around almost in a panic. She hated to be held captive. She hated to lose control. She knew she needed to keep calm even as she felt her sanity slipping away. If she didn't get out of her bindings soon she was going to scream.   
There was only one entrance that she could see but part of the room...she kept calling it a room in her head but it was more like a crypt and part of it was hidden in shadows and she could not see into it. She hoped that nobody was back there seeing out.  
Faith moved her head back toward the center of the room where she could see a young blonde girl was spread out across the floor shaking. Several of the demons were huddled around her as if they could bring her strength, and maybe they could. Faith had no idea about any of that. She wasn't really research girls so who knows what kind of powers they had. Faith berated herself feircly for never paying attention to Giles and Wesley when they talk. It seemed that this time she was going to pay for it. the brunette slayer's eyes widened as the demon stood up. It seemed that she had regained her strength. 


	14. Part Thirteen

Title: Vanilla and Kinks  
Author: Witchy Red  
Disclaimer: I don't own any of them  
Distribution: Bloody Kisses, NHA, fanfiction.net  
Summary: Willow finds out the family secret (Willow/Spike)  
Rating: R  
  
Willow lay sprawled on the couch trying to work up the energy to get up and make herself a cup of tea. She smiled, surprised that Giles hadn't offered to make her one before he left. Tea was Giles's cure for everything. Finally she called out to Spike, who was sitting at the kitchen table with her laptop helping with the insufferable research. When she called his name he came running.   
"What's wrong?" He asked worriedly. Part of him still expected her to tell him that her favorite doll had been bad and would have to be punished. Then he remembered that this was Willow, his sane mate, the one who only called in real emergencies.  
"I have no energy at all. I can't even get up to make a cup of tea. How am I going to fight this thing tonight?" Willow asked him. Spike smiled at her in relief and sat on the ground by her head.   
"Red, you can do this. You might act shy and timid around your friends but I know you. You are a vindictive, passionate, bitch when you need to be."  
"Thanks," Willow said with a wry look. "That's actually, strangely comforting."  
"It was supposed to be." He said. Then he stood up and patted her arm. "How about I make you that tea and you do some research. Anymore reading and my eyes are going to fall out. This is why I need minions. I never had to read when I had minions." Spike said wistfully as he walked back into her kitchen. Willow chuckled and sat up slightly, propping pillows behind her back so she could work comfortably. While Willow waited for her computer and tea her eyes gazed around the room and settled onto the throw-cover that had been tossed over her legs. Sewn into it was a belief that she had complete faith in. It read: Ever mind the rule of three what you give out comes back to thee…three times three.   
The threefolds rule. Willow thought excitedly to herself   
"That's it!" She cried outloud.   
"What's it, Wesley?" Spike said as he walked in with a steaming cup of tea and a box of Wheat-A-Bits. Willow gave him her don't be smart look.   
"Sorry." Spike said rolling his eyes heavenward and wondering why he was letting a petite red-headed mortal boss him around. Because you are completely in love with her. A voice said in his head.  
"The three folds rule in the Wiccan belief system says that any energy, no matter good or bad, given out into the world will come back on the giver times three. It works in the opposite also. Any energy that is taken from the world must also be given back times three. The Whisper has been taking and taking but she hasn't given anything back. We have to force the rule on her." Willow paused and her face grew worried. "The Whisper is very powerful and she has been taking energy for thousands of years. I don't know if we have the power to force this on her. Even if we borrow power from Giles I don't think we're going to have enough. Dammit!" She screamed, the hoplessness of the situation was getting to her. "We don't have the time for this. She's probably sacrifcing my best friends as we speak."  
"I doubt it. You said she was weak after the last. She needs time to get her strength up. And, Willow," Spike paused and Willow looked up at the sound of her name. Whatever he was going to say, it was serious.  
"I may have a way for us to become more powerful. We talked about it before but were putting it off until you were older, at least until you graduate but maybe it would be better if we did it now."   
"You mean you want us to form the Comittere, to become the Comitta."  
"Yes, and not only because it could save our lives, though that's a big part of it. I am not a patient being and not melding with you is causing a physical ache inside me. My demon calls out almost constantly for you to become mine."  
"It's not that I don't want to. I do, more than anything I've ever wanted. But I've been reading up on it and it could be dangerous. Besides, you need your sire to do it and there is no way Angel will agree to this."  
"He already did. Plus, he's expreienced. One of his other childes was melded. It's only dangerous if Angel screws it up."  
"Give me some time to think about it."  
"You have about…" Spike said looking at his watch. "thirty minutes. In that time why don't you research spells or whatever's going to stop this bitch. She's pissing me off."   
Thirty minutes later Giles, Angel and what was left of the Slayerettes walked in the door. They wore identical looks of gravity and carried more weaponry than Willow had realized Giles owned.  
"I found a way to kill her." Willow said. The group looked at her surprised but all of her attention was on Spike as she uttered one word, quiet but sure. "Yes." Spike's eyes grew serious but his face bloomed a smile bigger than even Angel had ever seen. Spike turned to his sire. Before he could say a word Angel nodded understanding exactly what Willow was talking about.   
"Yes what?" Xander asked. Willow turned to her friends. Slowly she explained about the threefolds rule and how she believed it would kill the demon. Then she took a deep breath and began to explain how she was going to meld with one of the fiercest vampires in history.  
"Spike and I are going to meld." She said and saw Giles's eyes go wide. "Angel is going to perform a ritual called the Comittere. When it's over Spike and I will be Comitta or melded. We will share thoughts, feelings and a few other things, including some supernatural power. It will also boost our power tenfold."  
"How long does it last?" Xander asked.  
"It's permanent, Xan. We are going to truly become mates."  
"Will, I know you love him but vampire." Xander said slightly hysterically. He threw one hand out toward Spike as if saying look at him he's evil.  
"No kidding. I'm doing this. You can't change my mind. I was going to do it in a couple of years anyway."  
"Willow, do you understand the possible repurcussions of what your doing?" Wesley asked quietly.  
"Yes, I know and I accept them. I love Spike and we need this power now." Willow said in a stubborn voice. Her resolve face was showing plainly and Giles sighed knowing there was nothing he could do to change the witch's mind.   
"If we cannot talk you out of this than you need to get it done so we can go after the Whisper. Can I please see that spell you found. I want to look over it while you are performing the Comittere." Giles said. Willow handed over the printer paper filled with a spell she had found.   
Slowly Willow, Spike, and Angel made there way into Willow's kitchen. Willow wanted it done somewhere where she could mop up spilled blood easily. Xander watched with his trade-mark puppy dog eyes and hang dog expression as his best friend went off to what he was sure her doom and she did so carrying a knife that was almost as long her arm 


	15. Part Fourteen

Title: Vanilla and Kinks  
Author: Witchy Red  
Disclaimer: I don't own any of them  
Distribution: Bloody Kisses, NHA, fanfiction.net  
Summary: Willow finds out the family secret (Willow/Spike)  
Rating: R  
  
Willow sat nervously on one point of a triangle drawn on her floor with chalk. Spike and Angel sat at the other two points. Through the triangle was a five sided star. The triangle was small enough that Willow could reach out and touch both of the vampires. In the center of the circle was a shallow ceremonial bowl. The ritual could have been accomplished with Tupperware and a butcher's knife but Angel had to have ceremony. She was surprised that he hadn't insisted on doing the ritual in Latin. Willow worried that he was becoming a little to uptight.  
The lights in the kitchen were dimmed so that Willow could barely make out was happening. Angel sat on his knees and poured a small bottle of holy water into the bowl, being careful not to spill it on himself. Then he sprinkled some herbs in. Finally he picked up a black handled knife before turning to Spike. Spike held out his hand wordlessly and Angel cut it. Spike allowed some of his blood to fall into the bowl. Then it was Willow's turn. Slowly she held up her arm so Angel could reach. Angel grabbed her arm and she turned her head away. When he cut her she hissed at the sudden pain and her eyes watered. Quickly she balled her hand into a fist in order to squeeze blood out of the shallow cut.   
When she had finished Angel slowly swirled the bowl, mixing the liquid. Then he held the bowl up and said.  
"Drink of this, the two, and become one. Drink of this and become the Comitta."  
He handed the bowl to Spike who slowly sipped from the bowl without once taking his eyes from Willow.   
"I drink of this and become the Comitta." He said before handing the bowl to Willow. Willow excepted the bowl with a steady hand and drank.  
"I drink of this and become the Comitta." She said solemnly but she couldn't keep the excitement out of her voice. Finally, this was what she had been looking for, this was what she wanted.  
"I drink of the two, so that they may remain one." Angel said once Willow had handed the bowl back to him. Then he finished the liquid and set the bowl down. Slowly he picked up another knife, this one covered in ornamental etchings. Spike insisted in calling it an athame no matter how many times Willow told him that athames were never used to cut. They were used only to call power.  
Angel held up his wrist and cut deeply into it. He leaned over and smeared blood in the middle of Spike's forehead, over his third eye. Then he lowered his wrist.  
"From the sire to the childe." He said quietly, his voice full of barely contained emotion. Spike looked him in the eye and in seconds some of what had been shattered was repaired. Then Spike lowered his head and drank heavily from his sire. When he had finished he wiped his mouth and took the knife from Angel. Then Spike turned to his beautiful Willow and cut his wrist in the same way as Angel. He smeared his blood over her third eye and lowered his wrist to the exact same position as Angel had done for him.  
"From the childe to the mate." He spoke through deep feelings of love that had suddenly surged up. Willow smiled at him and lowered her head. She drank the metallic liquid that flowed out of the blonde vampire. It wasn't bad, a lot less disgusting then she had thought, but she didn't understand what the big deal was. She guessed you had to be a vampire to get it.   
Finally Willow sat up and took the knife from Spike. She quickly cut both of her wrists and held them out to the two vampires.  
"From the mate to the family." She said. Neither vampire hesitated. Their control was almost lost with the smell of the heady elixir flowing from her. They slipped into their game faces and drank of the sweet girl who was offering herself to them.   
After a few minutes Spike sat up. He notice that Angel was still drinking and pushed him roughly away from the red-headed girl. Angel quickly regained his humanity and smiled sheepishly. It had been far to long since he had drank human blood.   
"From the ashes of two, the spirit of one has risen. You are now the Comitta." Angel said. They were the final words of the ritual.   
Willow and Spike stood up so fast that Spike kicked the ceremonial bowl and it went flying across the room. He pulled Willow into his arms and lowered his lips to hers. In a frenzied rush they were both tearing at there clothes, desperate for each other. They were so wrapped up in one another that they had forgotten Angel was there. Slightly embarrassed and more than a little aroused he rose and walked unsteadily from the room.  
Angel walked out into the living room and sank onto the floor, against the far wall. He placed his head in his hands and fought to restrain his body. He had a raging hard-on and couldn't seem to stop shaking.  
"Are you okay?" Giles asked worriedly.  
"I will be just give me a minute." Angel answered.   
"What's wrong with you?" Xander asked. Angel laughed a little before answering him.  
"Lets just say it's a good thing Buffy isn't here right now. I'm not really in control."  
"Oh." Xander said, for once at a loss for words.   
"Did you have sex?" Cordelia asked bluntly. Angel looked at the gorgeous brunette and moaned softly, under his breath so no one could hear him. She was almost to much. He loved Buffy but man did that girl have legs.  
"There's no sex itself involved in the ritual but its very sensual, at least for a vampire, and usually for the human involved too. Besides, it's been a really long time since I've tasted human blood." Angel said. Xander's head flipped up like a marionette and his eyes widened.  
"What!?" 


	16. Part Fifteen

(part 15)"You let them bite you?" Xander asked for the tenth time since they had left Willow's house. Willow paused once again to explain it to Xander. "Neither of them bit me. For the ritual to have worked both Angel and Spike needed to consume some of my blood." Willow said impatiently. Xander wasn't even able to comprehend this small part of what had happened. There was no way Willow was going to tell him about drinking Spike's blood. "But, why?" Xander asked in confusion. "Xander, I've already explained more than once." Willow snapped. She loved the teenaged boy but he had just used up her patience. "We don't have time to play twenty questions. Especially when you already know the answers. We have to save Buffy and Faith!" Xander looked shocked at having Willow yell at him. Willow never yelled about anything. Xander was sure it was Spike's influence causing her to act like this. The fact that Willow had begun to grow up and finally understood the gravity of the situations they were always in never crossed his mind. Silently the odd looking group of people walked the rest of the way to the cemetery. Once there Willow and Angel led everyone to the mausoleum where Willow and Xander had first encountered vampires. "The entrance is right back here." Angel said. He walked to the back of the cement tomb and opened the entrance to the tunnels. Cordelia and Willow followed him down with the rest not far behind. "I cannot believe I am going down into the sewers wearing Gucci shoes." Cordelia complained. "It's an electrical tunnel, not a sewer." Giles corrected her mildly. "That is so not the point!" Cordelia said. "Well you could have stayed home and waited for the apocalypse. I'm sure your shoes would fare much better during that." Xander said sarcastically. "Shut up, Xander. I'm here aren't I?" "Would you two stop." Willow said. Then she blanched at the sudden image that popped into Spike's head, Xander and Cordy were doing a lot more than bickering. Thanks a lot Spike. That picture will be forever burned into my brain. Willow thought. "No problem, Luv." Spike said out loud. Everyone, except Willow and Angel, turned to look at him weird. "It's the melding. We're still getting used to it." Willow explained to them 


	17. Part Sixteen

The blonde girl walked slowly toward Faith, her hips swaying. She laughed delicately when the brunette slayer scooted backward. Faith growled at the involuntary chill that ran down her back. No way was this prom queen china doll going to intimidate her. "So, I guess we're going to skip the introductions? Just get right on to the fighting?" "You silly girl. There isn't going to be any fighting. The Whisper said in a heavily accented voice. She reached Faith and ran a hand lovingly over her face and neck. "I'm not going to give you the chance. You are going to die trussed up like a pig. Once I have taken your body I will kill your companion as my final sacrifice. Then nothing will be able to stop me. "Oh, goody. Trussed up like a pig, sounds like my ex-boyfriend's idea of a good time." "Kill her!" The Whisper shouted to her minions. The girl was beginning to annoy her. The Ecketi demons advanced on Faith as a unit. Two of them unchained her, picked her up and carried her to the alter where another was standing, holding a switchblade. "I don't even get a ceremonial dagger or Mayan sacrificial knife or something. I feel loved." Faith said sarcastically. Her efforts at wit were ignored though and the demon with the knife brought it above his head. But before he could swing it down in a fatal arc Willow and Angel came bursting through the entrance with the rest of the slayerettes and Spike behind them. All of them were brandishing some sort of fire. Angel aimed the crossbow in his hands and let loose a bolt which found its target in the shocked demon that had been about to kill Faith. He dropped the knife in surprise and let out a horrible scream. The tip of the bolt had been covered in nitroglycerin and was burning out his insides. The demons attacked. Giles, Wesley, Cordelia and Xander were pulled into the fight before they had a chance to prepare. A demon grabbed Xander and shoved him into a wall, another swung a scimitar at Giles who jumped back narrowly missing the tip, three more surrounded Cordelia who bravely held them back with the torch she was carrying as Wesley attempted to pull them away from her. Spike and Willow ran to opposite sides of the room and held out there hands. Willow called up power mentally showing Spike how to do it. Slowly the energy started to seep out of them. From Willow heat and fire flew forming a semi circle of power that rose like a wall around her. From Spike came an artic chill and ice that burst out of him urgently to form the second half of the circle. Together the wall of power they built rose and spread through out the chamber. And then Willow began to chant. Spike soon caught on to the words and from their voices came a pure magick, neither good nor evil. It was a magick of perfect balance. The Whisper, who had been about to take out the brunette slayer herself, turned and screamed in horror. She could feel a ripping inside her because of the two and she knew that the Huntress and her Hunter were here. They were going to stop her. Like Hell. The Whisper started toward the closest of the couple, Spike. As she stalked past a fallen body on the floor a leg kicked out instinctively knocking her over. The Whisper struggled to get up but something was holding her down. Looking over her shoulder she saw a newly conscious blonde slayer standing above her. The slayer smiled and wiped away a bit of blood from the oozing cut on her forehead. "You didn't think I was out of the game, did you?" Buffy said before viciously kicking the demon in her stomach. "I just needed a break before I kicked your ass." Buffy punctuated each word with a kick. She went for one more to the demons face but this time the Whisper caught it and flipped the girl onto her back. She got up and ran down toward Spike. "I cannot believe I just helped Spike not get killed." Buffy mumbled before running over to Faith. "After this is over I'm going to soak in a bath until I'm permanently wrinkly." The blonde slayer said. She finished cutting off the binding that was wrapped around Faith's wrists and then ran back to the fight. Wesley was now standing in front of the Whisper but she only waved a hand and he flew backwards cracking his arm with a sickening pop when he landed. The Whisper reached the wall of magick and grabbed at Spike but her hands seemed to slip over his skin, not able to hold on. The Whisper felt a shiver of power go through her and glanced past Spike. Far in the corner stood Giles holding a glowing crystal and whispering fervently. "Do you think that your puny power is going to stop me. A child's protection spell is hardly a weapon against me." The demon whispered softly into Giles's mind. He stiffened, suddenly unable to move. He could barely breathe his body was so stiff. She had paralyzed him with a thought but to no avail his childish protection spell held and she could not touch either Hunter or Huntress. "Drushcel, come to me!" The Whisper called out. Her demon minions froze at the name and several died because of there hesitation. Feeling smug at killing several of the Ecketi, Cordelia and Xander smiled but soon their grins faded as a long wormlike demon slithered into the chamber from the dark shadowed tunnel in the back. It slid across the church destroying everything in its path. "That wasn't in the book." Wesley whispered through his pain. "What is it?" Cordelia asked. "I have no idea." "I think it's the Druschel." Xander said "Oh" Cordelia said 


	18. Part Seventeen

(Part 17)Willow was so tired. Her arms shook and she could barely find the energy to breath. They had been chanting for almost an hour and Willow's throat was scratched raw. Her voice was raspy and barely louder than a whisper. She was so sick of not being able to see anything more than white light and only hearing the elements. She had never realized that they all sounded alike, the roar of fire, the crash of water, the grinding of the earth, and the whirling of wind. Willow knew that the risks were great, she knew that what she was going to do might take the rest of her power and the spell would fail but if she couldn't see what was going on she was going to go crazy. And if she lost it then the spell wouldn't work anyway. So slowly the Huntress closed off a bit of power from the spell and opened it back up on the circle causing the opaque wall of magick to become clear. Suddenly she could see what was happening outside her small world and Willow's entire body began to shake. The wormlike demon had stopped several feet from the power circle that Spike and Willow had made. From the demon's back jumped off a small skinny being that reminded Xander of a shriveled up version of the half-ling he used to play in D&D. Everyone stared in confusion as the creature walked up to stand just in front of the Whisper and looked at her imploringly. The Whisper reached down to stroke the things head and then pointed the power circle. The creature turned and from its tiny mouth came a sound that was utterly alien. The sound was like nothing anybody had ever heard before. As the sound grew louder and louder the power circle that Willow and Spike had been building slowly imploded on itself. Willow felt the energy leaking out of her and she pushed harder to maintain the chant. They were almost finished. They only needed a little more time. Then the sound hit them. Spike cried out in agony his voice faltering. Willow tried to speak louder but her voice seemed to have left her completely. She fell to her knees in pain. Her body was on fire. Spike couldn't hear anything above the screeching but he knew that Willow was in trouble. He could feel her. He tried to call out to her but he was too weak. He couldn't even stand. His arms were still stretched only because they had forgotten how to fall. His body spasmed and he was choking up blood. Spike and Willow cried out in anguish. There was so much pain. It was uncontrollable. They couldn't think rationally. The only thing that either was conscious of was the pain. Xander cried out hysterically as he watched his best friend collapse. He ran over to her with his ears covered in an attempt to block out the hideous noise. At the same time Buffy went running toward the source of their pain but before either could make it to their target the wormlike creature that they had feared only a few minutes ago slithered into their path. Buffy struck it with a sword she had gotten off of Angel but it's body was like armor. She couldn't pierce it. Just then Faith stalked up behind her and swung a torch around her head, then heaved it at the big snake. Instantly the thing burst into flames. Its hideous whimpers could barely be heard over the screeching as it shriveled up and left his master defenseless. Sensing danger the Druschel turned toward the two slayers and they were hit with the full blast of its voice. Paralyzed Buffy and Faith stood helplessly as he drained their power. Released from the sound everyone else jumped into action. Xander walked through the power circle, pushing at it like it were Jell-O. When he was through he grabbed Willow and pulled her up. She was almost unconscious but still she mumbled the words of the incantation. When Xander had woken her enough so that she was able to stand on her own he raced to the other end of the room where Spike lay in a heap. Gathering up his courage he lifted the vampire into a sitting position. Shaking him, Xander screamed in his face. When that didn't work he slapped his face. Enraged Spike awoke. Then he felt the calming peace of Willow in his mind and realized what had happened. Hurriedly, he pushed Xander away and stood on his own. They were going to finish this. His part done, Xander went back out to help the rest of the slayerettes. Angel, and Cordelia were back to fighting the Ecketi. Wesley had been knocked out and was slumped against the wall. Cordelia held her right wrist against her chest and Xander could see it was swollen and probably broken. Giles was still paralyzed on the other side of the room but his protection spell held. Xander couldn't believe that Giles had that much power. Everyone was holding their own, or was unconscious, except the slayers. They were still caught in the horrible noise that permeated the room. Xander knew what he had to do and wondered why it was always him doing stupid stuff like this. He needed to have his head examined. Shaking said head Xander rushed at the slayers, and pushed them out of the way. They fell and were released, their energy returning but Xander was now caught. Buffy started toward him, hating to see any of her friends hurting but Faith grabbed her arm. "Don't. He knew what he was doing. Willow and Spike need us. Don't cheapen his sacrifice. Let him be a man, B. Don't save him." The Whisper roared in frustration. She was once again on the defensive as she felt herself being ripped apart from the inside. All of her magick was seeping from her body in blasts of lightening. She was alternately burning up and freezing. Her body was covered in black ashy burnt skin and icicles.  
  
Willow and Spike's voices had grown to immeasurable levels. They were screaming the spell so loud that the church trembled. Finally on a cry that brought down the ceiling fixtures Willow and Spike finished. After their last words the Whisper screamed and threw her head back. From her body burst a light so strong that Cordelia feared Angel and Spike would burn up. It went on for what seemed like hours. Finally she dropped to the floor, breathing hard. Spike and Willow were right behind her, unconscious. The Whisper struggled to stand and screamed in fury. She raced toward the center of the room where the Hunter and Huntress were. "I thought that spell was supposed to kill her!" Cordelia screamed. "To Hell with this!" Buffy said viciously. She was sick of all this magick shit. The blond slayer rushed toward the Whisper and, in a neat move that she had only learned the week before, cut the demons head off. The demon's body fell and her head rolled. It came to a stop with a surprised look on it's face. The Ecketi and the Druschel burst into a spray of liquid and Giles and Xander collapsed. The Whisper was dead and all of her power had left the earth. Exhausted and battered the Slayerettes limped out of the church and down the tunnel. "I don't even know why demons bother coming here anymore. We always kick their asses." Cordelia said. Everybody laughed. "So, do I have to do this stuff all the time, Pet?" Spike asked. "It's bloody annoying." Willow chuckled softly and leaned her head against his shoulder. His arm automatically came up around her waist. "Looks like Spike. But don't worry we only have to fight the really bad guys that are probably going to kill us instead." "That's comforting. 


	19. Epilouge

Two Days Later:  
  
"Did I say you could leave?" Buffy called out to the fleeing vampire. She stood saucily in front of a mausoleum in St. Francis cemetery. She watched as the vampire ran away from her and right into the dark haired vampire that she loved. The vampire stared up at the vampire who was now staring mischievously at him. "You weren't going anywhere were you?" He asked. Then he lifted his stake and plunged it into the fledgling's heart. "Vampires don't even fight anymore. What's up with that?" Buffy asked as she walked over to where Angel stood. Angel didn't answer. He just stared solemnly at her face. "What is it?" Buffy asked. She had reached him and placed her hand on his cheek. "Every time you get hurt, every time somebody touches you. I can't help but think it's the last time I'll ever see you. I don't know if I could go on if you weren't here." Angel told her. Buffy's eyes teared and she practically melted into his arms. Then she heard somebody gagging behind her and a familiar giggle as Willow tried to hush her own vampire lover. Buffy groaned and turned to the couple. "Shut-up, Spike." She told him. Spike smirked at her as he sat down in front of a gravestone and pulled Willow down in between his legs. "You shock me with your wit, Slayer." Spike said chuckling a bit. Buffy was about to answer with a sarcastic retort but before she could another vampire came charging toward her and Angel. The vampire pushed Angel away and tackled Buffy. They fought for a few minutes before Angel pulled the vamp off of her. Buffy stood up and kicked the vampire in the face. "Did I look like I wanted to wrestle?" She asked before staking the vampire. Then she turned toward Willow and Spike. "Spike, couldn't you have helped? Buffy asked. "You expect me to fight against one of my own kind? Please, find your brain." Buffy glared at him. "Willow?" Buffy tried again. "Couldn't you have killed him before he ruined my new jeans?" Buffy complained. "Sorry, Buff, but I'm not supposed to interfere, especially when you're not in any real danger." "Thanks a lot." Willow smiled mischievously and Buffy thought that Spike was not a good influence on her. Willow saw Buffy glare at Spike and knew that she was going to blame him every time Willow did something out of character. Sadly she sighed and hoped that Buffy would get over it. If she didn't Willow knew she wasn't going to be able to stay in Sunnydale and she didn't want to lose her best friend. Shaking her head Willow stood up and led the group back to her house. Those thoughts would have to wait until another time. She was still celebrating the death of the Whisper. Laughing and talking the foursome reached Willow's house, they went in and started upstairs to Willow's room. Willow opened the door and froze when she saw Faith sitting on her bed. The brunette looked up and grinned. In front of her was a shoebox filled with things that made the red-head blush.  
  
"So, Willow, Vanilla or Kinks?" Faith asked holding up a vibrator. "Oh my God!" Willow heard Buffy gasp behind her before she passed out. 


End file.
